Rage 2 developers Avalanche Studios are under new ownership. Longtime PlayStation partners and Nordic distributors in the region, Nordisk Film, has announced a $100 million-plus deal to acquire one of the best up-and-coming studios around.
While the deal, referred to as the “single largest acquisition in Nordisk Film’s 111-year history” won’t affect the development of Rage 2 moving forward, it’s an interesting move for a company so closely aligned with the PlayStation brand.
Avalanche Studios, which can also count Mad Max and the Just Cause franchise among their stable, previously saw Nordisk Film take a minority ownership position in the company as of April 2017, but the remaining buyout was seen as the first step “part of [Nordisk Film’s] strategy of investing heavily in successful Nordic game studios.”
Whether Avalanche Studios works more closely with PlayStation to develop titles in future remains to be seen. For now, though, they remain a “creatively independent game studio” while working side-by-side with Bethesda on Rage 2 which, coincidentally, is using the Just Cause engine.
That, too, is backed up Avalanche Studios CEO Pim Holfve, who states: “Even though we’ll continue to operate as an independent studio, Nordisk Film will – with a century of experience from growing creative businesses – provide us with a more solid foundation. I could not be happier to have them on-board.”
Even so, this could be big news for the Nordic games scene, and the industry as a whole. Big money is now backing Avalanche Studios, and it’s more than a little bit exciting to see where they’re heading next post-Rage 2. Just Cause 4 with an even bigger budget? Yes, please.
