Keywords acquires Australian mobile studio Mighty Games

Keywords Studios has acquired Australian indie studio Mighty Games for an undisclosed fee.

Mighty Games was co-founded in 2013 by industry veterans Ben Britten and Matt Ditton and strives to develop "smart little mobile games" like Piffle and Shooty Skies Overdrive.

The Melbourne-based studio has also worked closely with Hipster Whale founders Matt Hall and Andy Sum, best known for creating the Crossy Road franchise.

Keywords said the deal will further its technical capabilities in automated AI-based games testing while also bolstering its presence in Australia.

Following the acquisition, Britten and Ditton will continue leading Mighty Games within Keywords to keep developing its proprietary "Build and Test" platform, which uses AI tech deployed on multiple machines to automatically test code, detect bugs and defects, and report errors on a 24/7 basis.

"This acquisition is in line with our strategy to harness innovative technology to do more for our clients and remain at the forefront of our industry," commented Keywords CEO Bertrand Bodson.

"Mighty’s talented game development team further strengthens our game development presence in Melbourne and follows the recent acquisitions of Tantalus and Wicked Witch in Australia. We are really looking forward to supporting Mighty’s team and growth as part of the Group."

The news comes shortly after Keywords purchased Age of Empires: Definitive Edition developer Forgotten Empires for $32.5 million, and less than a year after Bodson was brought in as CEO following the departure of Andrew Day.