UK publisher Rising Star Games acquired by Thunderful

UK publisher Rising Star Games has been picked up by Thunderful, the parent company behind Swedish game studios Image & Form and Zoink. 

The deal is a little strange in that Thunderful has purchased 100 percent of Rising Star's shares from the publisher's parent company Bergsala Holding -- the same Bergsala Holding that holds a 50 percent stake in Thunderful -- making the deal more of a merger than an straightforward acquisition.

Headquartered in the UK, Rising Star also has offices in the States, and has published a number of titles including Trailblazers, Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley, Deadly Premonition: The Director's Cut, and SteamWorld Dig 2 -- the latter of which was developed by Image & Form.

Thunderful, meanwhile, was formed in December 2017 to help both Zoink and Image & Form collaborate more closely, and to help facilitate the formation of a new publishing division called Thunderful Publishing. 

The company has purchased Rising Star to help it cope with its growing workload, and hopes to benefit from the team's many years of expertise.

Following the deal, Ed Valiente, the current managing director of Thunderful Publishing, will also take on the role of managing director of Rising Star. 

"The team at Rising Star is very competent," commented Valiente. "We look forward to bringing in quality titles for us all to work with."