Stillfront acquires Kixeye to expand its portfolio of games

Kixeye has found new ownership in Swedish developer Stillfront Group. As part of the deal, Stillfront is acquiring Kixeye and its games for $90 million in cash. Depending on its earnings, Stillfront may also end up paying another $30 million to Kixeye’s owners. Both sides expect the deal to close July 1. At that point, all of Kixeye’s current operations would come under Stillfront control.

This acquisition gives Stillfront games like War Commander and Battle Pirates. These are free-to-play massively multiplayer mobile games with strategy elements. In Kixeye games, you typically build a base and get into battles with other players and try to level up your units and defenses. It’s a popular genre — and one that Stillfront is also active in with games like Call of War.

“Kixeye fits perfectly into Stillfront’s growth strategy by broadening our portfolio of studios and games with characteristics that drive long term gamer relations,” Stillfront chief executive Jörgen Larsson said in a statement. “Kixeye’s games portfolio of four strong IPs and a well-known brand is a very good contribution to our existing game portfolio and increases the potential for synergies within the Group.”

Kixeye’s studios also join Stillfront

This deal also gives Stillfront control of Kixeye’s development teams. And Stillfront expects that the key leadership and employees will make the transition and continue working on their projects.

“Kixeye is a pioneer in free-to-play gaming and has a very strong track record in developing blockbuster IPs,” said Larsson. “It is with pleasure I today welcome Clayton Stark and the whole team to Stillfront.”

Clayton Stark is the head of studios at Kixeye, and he’s going to keep that role under the new management.

“We are very excited about the merger with Stillfront,” Stark said. “Combining portfolios and leveraging our knowledge in live-ops execution and innovative monetization will be a great formula for success. We are very much looking forward to becoming part of the Stillfront family.”