Ritual Entertainment Eaten By Casual Game Publisher [UPDATED]
AAA Developer To Now Make 'High-Quality Casual Game Content'
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Casual game publisher MumboJumbo has purchased developer Ritual Entertainment who is responsible for such AAA titles as Quake 4 and the SiN franchise among others. MumboJumbo hopes that the acquisition will "further solidifies the company’s presence as one of the largest casual game studios in the industry."
Although it is unusual to see a casual publishing house buying a big developer, the two companies do have a common link in Ron Dimant. Dimant was the CEO of Ritual Entertainment before leaving the firm in 2001 to found MumboJumbo only to turn around and buy his former employer for an undisclosed sum. Ritual's team of 30 will now be tasked with making "high-quality casual game content" for all major platforms.
Deal-maker Dimant had the following to say: "MumboJumbo(TM) established the casual games category at retail, and the purchase of Ritual Entertainment(TM) is consistent with our strategy to bring high-quality casual game content to the major platforms. The combination of Ritual’s(TM) high-end, multi-platform expertise and our own industry-leading publishing model will set the bar for quality and sophistication in casual games and create a major industry powerhouse. The casual games market is beginning to mature as evidenced by an increase in consumer expectations. Ultimately, the companies providing the best content will win, which is why we are investing so heavily in the development of technology and original IP."
The status of additional SiN episodes is unknown.
[UPDATE] MumboJumbo CEO Mark Cottam detailed some of the changes that have already begun to take place at Ritual Entertainment. Aside from shelving the SiN franchise MumboJumbo has already begun organizing the developer into the smaller teams common for casual game development and even expects their (MumboJumbo's) budgets to increase as their consumer's expectations do.
Cottman said: "It's interesting because you're looking at a large scale developer with a 30, 40, 50-person team working on projects from 12 to 18 months and now are going to be focusing on smaller teams, 4 to 8 people and 3 to 5 months or 6 months on a title. We believe that as casual games grow and the consumer expectations increase, then so do our development budgets and the need to have really disciplined development is going to be more and more important... Like the other part of the game segment, as this becomes a more mainstream and a larger part of the market, those that control their own IP and have strong IP and those that have regular and disciplined release schedules and development schedules are the ones who will come out on top."
Although it is unusual to see a casual publishing house buying a big developer, the two companies do have a common link in Ron Dimant. Dimant was the CEO of Ritual Entertainment before leaving the firm in 2001 to found MumboJumbo only to turn around and buy his former employer for an undisclosed sum. Ritual's team of 30 will now be tasked with making "high-quality casual game content" for all major platforms.
Deal-maker Dimant had the following to say: "MumboJumbo(TM) established the casual games category at retail, and the purchase of Ritual Entertainment(TM) is consistent with our strategy to bring high-quality casual game content to the major platforms. The combination of Ritual’s(TM) high-end, multi-platform expertise and our own industry-leading publishing model will set the bar for quality and sophistication in casual games and create a major industry powerhouse. The casual games market is beginning to mature as evidenced by an increase in consumer expectations. Ultimately, the companies providing the best content will win, which is why we are investing so heavily in the development of technology and original IP."
The status of additional SiN episodes is unknown.
[UPDATE] MumboJumbo CEO Mark Cottam detailed some of the changes that have already begun to take place at Ritual Entertainment. Aside from shelving the SiN franchise MumboJumbo has already begun organizing the developer into the smaller teams common for casual game development and even expects their (MumboJumbo's) budgets to increase as their consumer's expectations do.
Cottman said: "It's interesting because you're looking at a large scale developer with a 30, 40, 50-person team working on projects from 12 to 18 months and now are going to be focusing on smaller teams, 4 to 8 people and 3 to 5 months or 6 months on a title. We believe that as casual games grow and the consumer expectations increase, then so do our development budgets and the need to have really disciplined development is going to be more and more important... Like the other part of the game segment, as this becomes a more mainstream and a larger part of the market, those that control their own IP and have strong IP and those that have regular and disciplined release schedules and development schedules are the ones who will come out on top."
