One RPG studio will bring in another
Beamdog has more news than just a new game. Today, Aspyr Media announced it’s entered into an agreement to acquire Beamdog.
Aspyr is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saber Interactive, under Embracer. Yes, this does chalk up another acquisition for Embracer. Under the agreement, Beamdog will operate as an independent studio within Aspyr. The closing of the deal is still subject to approval at this time.
Aspyr itself is known for its ports of many Star Wars games, and more recently, its in-development remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
Beamdog, on the other hand, is a Canadian studio founded by former BioWare devs. After forming in 2009, the studio went on to publish and develop new versions of many role-playing games themselves, like Planescape: Torment Enhanced Edition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL-RfE-ioJ8
Use the MythForce
Once the deal’s complete, this might prove to be an interesting pairing. Aspyr has been working on ports for a while but gets to take their own spin with the KOTOR remake. Meanwhile, Beamdog brings in a great deal of veteran talent. According to a press release, former BioWare lead and Beamdog founder Trent Oster will stay at the helm.
Beamdog also recently announced a new game, the Saturday morning cartoon-inspired MythForce. It’s a first-person roguelite set to hit early access on Epic later this month, and Aspyr will publish it. The partnership is already coming together, it seems.
Further off on the horizon, though, is Knights of the Old Republic. It’s unknown when we could expect the remake, or even when we’ll get some more news on it. But having the assistance of Beamdog might prove useful, seeing as it’s got some BioWare history.
Embracer, meanwhile, seems to show no sign of slowing down on the acquisition front. Even after committing $8.1 billion since the start of 2020, it looks like the trend isn’t over just yet.
