TinyBuild has just announced the acquisition of multiple single-player IPs from Bossa Studios. They are: Surgeon Simulator, I Am Fish, and I Am Bread. These IPs were acquired for an "upfront payment" of $3m, which implies that there could be more paid up down the line. While this might seem like a lot of dosh for a bunch of indie game memes, Bossa franchises made $6m in total revenues last year, which is a surprisingly decent amount.
This isn't the first acquisition from TinyBuild either, as they acquired publisher Versus Evil, who helped produce The Banner Saga and Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, late last year. Less recently, they've also acquired developer Bad Pixel, Streets of Rogue developer DogHelm, and Dynamic Pixels, so it definitely seems that TinyBuild has acquired a taste for acquiring new studios and IPs.
Why has TinyBuild bought Surgeon Simulator and other IPs?
The reason for this acquisition is apparently that Bossa Studios has switched its attentions exclusively over to co-op PvE as of early 2022. This purchase therefore allows Bossa Studios to "dedicate its full attention" to its new projects while also ensuring that their old IPs "have a new home that understands what makes these games tick as well as we do". We'll have to see about that, but for now, it looks like Bossa Studios has been paid millions for IPs they no longer have any interest in, which seems like a decent deal.
TinyBuild also announced that they would be acquiring Russian studio Konfa Games for a "maximum consideration" of $5.4m. Konfa are the developers of the soon-to-launch Despot's Game, a roguelike tactical auto-battler fully launching on PC and consoles on September 15th. The team at Konfa Games has already joined a newly established TinyBuild "studio hub" in Belgrad, Serbia. We're not sure if they were part of TinyBuild's James Bond-esque operation to get employees across the Russian border and into safety, though.
Over the last two years, TinyBuild has been working with Konfa Games as the publisher of Despot's Game, which launched via Steam Early Access last year. The game has over 1500 reviews that amount to a 'Very Positive' score on Steam, which appears to be the same opinion that TinyBuild must've had of Konfa Games in order to acquire them.
For more information on TinyBuild, further acquisitions and everything in between, stay tuned to TechRaptor.