Developer and publisher Miniclip announced the acquisition of UK studio Supersonic Software and its subsidiary Appynation.
Supersonic is best known for titles like Puzzle Page, Picture Cross, World’s Biggest Crossword and One Clue Crossword. The acquisition of Supersonic, Miniclip’s fourth UK studio, will allow the company to move into the puzzle genre in line with its strategy “to unleash the gamer in everyone.”
“We’re looking forward immensely to becoming part of the Miniclip family,” Supersonic co-founder Andy Williamson commented on the deal. “The expertise Miniclip can bring to our business will be invaluable — it will help us grow more quickly than we ever could as an independent studio. We’re confident Miniclip will respect our culture and indeed enhance it.”
Supersonic Software was founded in 1988 and for many years worked as a console game developer. The company pivoted to specialise in free-to-play mobile games around 10 years ago. Supersonic was a founding member and investor in the publisher Appynation and later acquired the remaining shares in the company, whereupon Appynation became a wholly owned subsidiary. The group specialises in developing and publishing puzzle games and running these as ‘forever’ franchises.
Miniclip was founded in 2001. In February 2015, Miniclip received a large majority investment from Tencent. To date, Miniclip franchises including 8 Ball Pool, Golf Battle, Football Strike and Agar.io have generated more than 2 billion downloads.
The Miniclip Group has previously acquired Playsport (famous for Motorsport Manager), Yakuto (creators of Darts of Fury), Masomo (home of Head Ball 2), Ilyon (designers of Bubble Shooter), Eight Pixels Square (Sniper Strike) now operating as Miniclip Derby, Gamebasics (creators of OSM Online Soccer Manager), and Green Horse Games (home of Football Rivals).