Activision Acquires Guitar Hero PS2 Developer Budcat Creations

Activision Publishing is acquiring Budcat Creations, an Iowa-based developer specialized in creating Nintendo DS, Wii, and PlayStation 2 games. Under the agreement's terms, Budcat has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision, and the company's management team has signed multi-year employment contracts. The studio, which claims over 45 employees, will continue to operate in Iowa City. Activision has worked with Budcat in the past for console-specific versions of its Guitar Hero releases, such as the PS2 editions of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, and most recently Guitar Hero: World Tour. Budcat has also previously worked with Majesco on two Wii games, Our House and Blast Works: Build, Trade, Destroy, as well as with Electronic Arts for the Wii version of Medal of Honor: Vanguard. The acquisition comes shortly after Activision reported revenues of $711 million for the quarter ending September 30th, despite a $194 million loss due to sales costs, $26 million in compensation packages, its $78 million Vivendi merger, and other expenses. "Budcat Creations is an outstanding developer with an experienced management team and a very talented group of programmers, designers and artists," says Activision Publishing president and CEO Mike Griffith. He continues, "In addition to strengthening our development capabilities on the Nintendo platforms, this acquisition increases our Guitar Hero development resources as we continue to grow the franchise and expand our global leadership position in the music-based genre."