Focus Home Interactive Acquires French Retro-Style Game Developer Dotemu
French video game developer and publisher Focus Home Interactive has acquired Paris-based developer Dotemu, a studio that specializes in retro-style games such as Streets of Rage 4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, and Metal Slug Tactics.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, Focus bought out 77.5% of its fellow French studio’s shares for €38.5 million, or roughly $45.5 million. Dotemu will also get an additional €15 million ($17.7 million) upon completion of specific performance and employment goals, potentially bringing the total purchase value up to €53.5 million ($63.3 million).
“The arrival of Dotemu marks a key step in the acceleration of the group's growth and in the diversification of its expertise. By enriching our editorial line, we are opening up a new revenue stream and market shares to conquer in a fast-growing sector,” said Focus Home Interactive CEO Christophe Nobileau.
“Joining the Focus Home Interactive Group was an obvious choice for Dotemu,” said Cyrille Imbert, Dotemu’s CEO and the newest member of Focus’ executive committee. “We share the same passion for video games, the same desire to improve, as well as the same values of respect and benevolence towards our partners and teams.”
Imbert says that they’ll continue to work on remakes or sequels of early 2000’s first-generation console games and possibly new retro-style games of popular franchises like Conan the Barbarian. “I think that it would be interesting to explore classic movies like Indiana Jones, Terminator… the kind of stuff that never really had their very cool retro game back in the day — it was always promotional games and they were usually not that good,” he told IGN. “And Conan, for example, I love Conan. I'd love to do a Conan game.”
Funcom currently holds the rights to the Conan IP so it’s probably going to be a while before we see a retro Conan game from Dotemu and Focus Home Interactive. We might not even see one at all, if Funcom keeps pushing back their endlessly-delayed April Fool’s prank, Conan Chop Chop.
