Dead by Daylight publisher Behaviour Interactive has announced that it has acquired Darkest Dungeon developer Red Hook Studios for an undisclosed amount of money.
In a press release, Behaviour says its acquisition of Red Hook "highlights [Behaviour's] commitment to horror", and that the purchase of the studio "reinforces Behaviour's leading position in horror gaming".
None of Red Hook's team members will be let go, it seems, and the studio will contoinue to function "as an independent studio within Behaviour", so it sounds like no management or strategy changes will be taking place.
Behaviour CEO Rémi Racine says the acquisition of Red Hook is "another emphatic step" towards his studio's objective of becoming "synonymous with horror". He also teases "more to come" on this front.
Red Hook co-founder Chris Bourassa, meanwhile, says that his studio and Behaviour are "kindred spirits"; they're both Canadian, they're both independent, and, according to Bourassa, they're both "devoted to fantastic horror games".
Fellow Red Hook co-founder Tyler Sigman says Red Hook will benefit from Behaviour's "considerable knowledge and resources", and that the two studios are "stronger together than apart", pledging to "delve even deeper" into the Darkest Dungeon franchise alongside Behaviour.
Given that Dead by Daylight is known for its many IP collaborations, including Castlevania, Tomb Raider, and many more besides, could this acquisition result in a Darkest Dungeon Dead by Daylight crossover someday? We can but hope.
The announcement of Behaviour's acquisition of Red Hook arguably comes at a somewhat inopportune time.
Last week, the studio announced it had canceled Dead by Daylight third-person shooter spinoff Project T and shut down development studio Midwinter, so announcing that another studio has been acquired in the wake of that news seems a touch insensitive.
Nevertheless, we'll have to wait and see what Behaviour does now that Red Hook is part of its studio stable. With big things coming for Darkest Dungeon 2 in the future, Behaviour's support could mean even more updates or DLC for the game. Stay tuned for more.
