Vertigo Games, the VR specialist publishing and development arm of the global Koch Media Group, today announced that it has entered into an agreement acquiring 100 percent of the shares of Force Field, one of the world’s largest VR development studios, for an undisclosed amount. The Force Field team will continue its operations under the new name of Vertigo Studios Amsterdam.
Founded by game industry veterans in 2015, Force Field is one of the world’s largest game studios that are exclusively focused on VR gaming. A pioneer in the VR space, the company has developed multiple high-end VR titles, including Oculus Studios titles “Landfall”, “Time Stall” and “Coaster Combat”, and is currently working on an unannounced AAA game based on a well-known IP.
The Force Field team, under the name of Vertigo Studios Amsterdam, will continue their operations out of their Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based studio while collaborating with Vertigo Games on the development of new and IP-based AAA VR games for players on major VR platforms globally. The acquisition includes all segments of Force Field’s business, as well as intellectual property rights.
Richard Stitselaar, CEO at Vertigo Games said: “With multiple AAA VR game productions in the pipeline for the upcoming years, Vertigo Games continues to rapidly expand. Known for their AAA production standards and pioneering VR game development expertise, we are thrilled to welcome the Force Field team to the Vertigo Games family. Together we are a major step closer to building a global VR powerhouse that will bring even bigger, high production value, and cutting-edge VR games to players around the world.”
“Having spent years on the cutting edge of VR game development, creating showcase games and experiences for leading VR companies, we have built a world-class VR team capable of delivering best-in-class games,” said Arthur Houtman, CEO of Vertigo Studios Amsterdam. “Today we enter a new phase of growth as part of Vertigo Games, who are not only one of the most successful VR game development studios, but also a leading VR publisher and part of the immensely diverse global Koch Media / Embracer Group, allowing us to fully leverage our company's potential.”
The acquisition is the latest in a series of expansions by Vertigo Games, which has seen the company branch out from VR development into publishing, out-of-home entertainment and distribution, while establishing multiple VR brands including “Arizona Sunshine” and “After the Fall”. It follows the VR gaming specialist’s entry into the Koch Media / Embracer Group in September 2020, as well as its acquisition of SpringboardVR, the leading out of home VR content marketplace and management platform, earlier this year. This latest acquisition is another clear indication of Koch Media investing in VR and the exciting future it holds.
For more information about Vertigo Games, please visit vertigo-games.com and follow Vertigo Games on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The group’s publishing activities, marketing and distribution extend throughout Europe, America, Australia and Asia. Koch Media has more than 25 years of experience in the digital media business and has risen to become a leading global publishing partner. The Koch Media Group runs a multi-label strategy with fully owned publishing units such as Prime Matter, Deep Silver, Milestone, Vertigo Games and Ravenscourt, publishing games for consoles, PC and VR platforms across all physical and digital channels.
Additionally, as global publishing partner Koch Media has formed long-term multi-national publishing collaborations with numerous game publishers including Activision Blizzard, Bethesda, Capcom, CI Games, Giants Software, Kalypso, Koei Tecmo, Konami, Paradox, Sega, SNK, Square Enix, Techland, Tripwire, Warner Bros, and many others.
With its parent company in Höfen, Austria, and the Publishing HQ in Munich, Germany, Koch Media owns local publishing companies in Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Australia, the United States as well as Japan and Hong Kong.
The Koch Media Group owns nine game development studios: Deep Silver Volition (Champaign, IL / USA), Deep Silver Dambuster Studios (Nottingham / UK), Deep Silver Fishlabs (Hamburg / Germany), Warhorse Studios (Prague / Czech Republic), Milestone (Milan / Italy), Voxler (Paris / France) , Flying Wild Hog (Warsaw, Kraków, Rzeszów / Poland), Free Radical Design (Nottingham / UK) and Vertigo Games (Rotterdam /The Netherlands). Additionally, the Koch Media Group collaborates with numerous independent development studios around the world.
Part of the Koch Media Group is also Koch Films, a leading European independent film distributor with business primarily in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy as a cinema, TV, online and Home Entertainment distributor. The Koch Media Group also owns Gaya Entertainment, a leading video game merchandise company in Munich, Germany, and the Quality Assurance Facility in Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Koch Media is an Embracer Group company.