Codemasters announce that Reliance Big Entertainment has acquired a 50 per cent shareholding in the Codemasters, alongside existing investor, Balderton Capital, the leading European venture capital firm that first invested in Codemasters in 2005. RBEL’s gaming division, Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd. will oversee the Codemasters investment.Zapak is the largest gaming company in India, with interests in online casual games, publishing massively multiplayer online games (MMOG), India’s largest chain of gaming cafes and physical distribution of gaming software. Zapak also controls Jump Games, an award winning international mobile game development and publishing company with global distribution across Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.
Rohit Sharma, CEO of Zapak, said: “We are excited to partner with Codemasters and believe that its very strong technology, development and distribution presence will complement our global gaming portfolio. Additionally, Zapak’s global strength in mobile gaming will enhance Codemasters’ ability to fully leverage its attractive franchises such as its racing and cricket games.”
Codemasters has major franchises in cricket games (The Ashes (2009), International Cricket (2010), racing games (F1 2009/F1 2010, DiRT 2 and Race Driver GRID), performance games (Dance Factory) and military simulations (Operation Flashpoint) and annual revenues in excess of US$ 150 Million.
Rod Cousens, chief executive of Codemasters, said: “The opportunities arising from this partnership are truly exciting. This is great news for our development and publishing teams. Reliance and Zapak have immense resources and will help us realize the full potential of our game coding and online excellence across so many platforms, and especially in the world’s fastest growing markets. The future of Codemasters has never looked brighter – it’s a whole new game.”
Tim Bunting, Balderton Partner, said: “We are delighted to welcome Reliance as our partner in Codemasters and gratified by the confidence in Codemasters that Reliance’s initiative represents.”