Ubisoft buys Nadeo racing game studio as expansion binge continues
Ubisoft, the French video game giant, said today it has purchased the Nadeo video game development studio in Paris. The studio is the creator of TrackMania, a multiplayer online car racing game on the web.
TrackMania has more than 700,000 unique players a month, and it has signed up more than 10 million players to date. The users can create their own cars and tracks and race against others. Since 2008, more than 15 million tracks have been created. TrackMania has 10 employees.
Ubisoft is strong in console games with franchises such as Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, but the acquisition of Nadeo is yet another step in Ubisoft’s expansion in the online game sector, said Yves Guillemot, chief executive of Ubisoft. In July, Ubisoft launched its first online game on Facebook.
All year long, we’ve witnessed a number of similar deals where established game companies are teaming up with online game startups as the industry transitions from packaged goods to online games. Earlier this year, Ubisoft bought Canadian game developer Action Pants.
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About the Author, Dean Takahashi
Dean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.
