Aonic launches Megabit publishing arm to serve up Warren Spector's next project (and others)

Video game conglomerate Aonic has launched a new publishing arm called Megabit to support its first-party studios and third-party partners.

Aonic has purchased and invested in a myriad of studios including Milky Tea, nDreams, and OtherSide Entertainment, the latter of which was co-founded by industry veterans Paul Neurath and Warren Spector. It currently has over 600 employees across seven game studios, two adtech platforms, and now one publisher in the form of Megabit.

The Swedish company claims Megabit will "provide world-class publishing services" to its portfolio of studios without stifling their independence. Benjie Clark, formerly VP of marketing at Mediatonic Games and senior director of global marketing at Jagex, will lead Megabit as managing director of global publishing.

"Megabit will serve as an extension of Aonic's commitment to filling a gap in the industry with a truly collaborative home for independent development studios," reads a press release. "Led by industry veterans, the growing publishing team at Megabit has worked on some of the world's biggest franchises such as FIFA, Payday and Tomb Raider, in addition to long running live service games such as RuneScape, Elite and CSR Racing."

Megabit's current projects

Megabit currently has four titles in the hopper that are scheduled to launch over the next 18 months. Longer term, the publisher hopes to have rolled out 10 games by the end of 2026.

Key projects on the publisher's slate include Thick as Thieves from OtherSide Entertainment and Lou's Lagoon from Tiny Roar. Aonic CEO Paul Schempp said Megabit will help its teams grow "in every way possible" with a focus on cross-studio support and collaboration.

"It was a natural next step for us to build a publishing arm–one that that works in synergy with our studios to bring their works of art to market," added Schempp. "Our approach to publishing offers our partners the skills and tools they need, without infringing on their creativity, resulting in a studio and publisher partnership that works hand-in-hand to bring only the best games to the market."