Ubisoft Acquires Trials HD Developer RedLynx

Major French-headquartered publisher Ubisoft has announced it has acquired independent Finnish developer RedLynx. Founded in 2000 as a mobile and PC game developer, RedLynx saw great success with 2009's Xbox Live Arcade release of motorcycle stunt game Trials HD, which had sold 2 million core game and DLC downloads through May. A sequel, Trials Evolution, is currently in development. Since Trials' success, RedLynx has released WiiWare racing-meets-platformer title MotoHeroz as well as iPhone titles 1000 Heroz and DrawRace 2, the latter of which reached the top 10 in many international App Store sales charts. "The team at RedLynx has developed exceptionally strong digital brands that stand out for their high replay value, their long tail sales and their multiplatform positioning," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in a statement. Guillemot went on to praise RedLynx's specialties in "asynchronous online games and physics-based game mechanics" and promised to bring the company's titles, including Trials, "to an even broader range of fast-growing digital platforms." RedLynx CEO Tero Virtala cited Ubisoft's "focus on creativity and quality" as reasons for the move, as well as the publisher's ability to expand RedLynx's audience by focusing on "both the traditional and digital distribution video game markets." The move follows on Ubisoft's July acquisition of Paris-based free-to-play game maker Owlient, as well as previous purchases of online technology company Quazal, TrackMania developer Nadeo and World In Conflict developer Massive Entertainment.