Cloud tech company Improbable has sold another of its first-party game studios.
As reported by Eurogamer, the firm has sold Scavengers maker Midwinter Entertainment to Behaviour Interactive. No figure has been placed on the deal, but the dev is now going to be working on another project.
Midwinter's Scavengers was launched into Steam Early Access back in May 2021 – following its acquisition by Improbable in September 2019 – but has failed to make a dent in the games market. It doesn't look like Midwinter has retained the rights to Scavengers.
This comes as Improbable shifts its focus from game development to the metaverse.
"When we first started talking to Behaviour months ago, the alignment across the teams was striking, and in my experience rare," Midwinter studio head Mary Olson (pictured) – who joined the company in October 2019 – said.
"As we continued to explore, it was clear the opportunity goes beyond similar values and development philosophy. We are thrilled to join and learn from a team with proven success across a broad spectrum of IP, while in turn leveraging the strong foundation, culture, and team we've built at Midwinter to expand Behaviour's portfolio. Plus, Midwinter will be able to leverage 30 years of legacy and join forces with one of North America’s fastest-growing gaming studios."
Behaviour boss Rémi Racine added: "Behaviour was not just looking for any studio, but the right studio. Chemistry was essential and our similar values, cultures and our commitment to creating games that push boundaries and defy expectations make Midwinter a perfect fit. This is an important move during a milestone year for Behaviour, which will mark its 30th anniversary in September, and further evidence of the impressive growth that has seen our revenues more than double since 2019 and our team reach nearly 1000 full-time employees."
This is the second studio that Improbable has sold this year. Back in February, the tech firm sold its stake in Inflexion Games to Chinese giant Tencent, though the former has retained the game it was working on, Nightingale.
Back in 2018, we caught up with the CEO and founder of Midwinter Josh Holmes to discuss the studio's collaboration with Improbable.
The company has had a hard time finding focus with its SpatialOS tech. A number of early indie projects that used the cloud technology – such as Bossa's Worlds Adrift and Lazarus from Spilt Milk – shut down back in 2019. At the time, Improbable said that "ambitious, visionary products always contain some risk". It's worth noting that Bossa studio GM Daniel Clough doesn't bear any ill will towards Improbable for Worlds Adrift.
