Keywords to be acquired by Swedish investor EQT at £2.2 billion valuation

Keywords is set to be acquired by Swedish investment firm EQT at an enterprise value of £2.2 billion ($2.8 billion).The prolific game service provider—which assists with development, art production, localization, QA, marketing, and more—confirmed the deal will value each Keywords share at £24.50 in cash."The boards of Bidco (EQT) and Keywords Studios are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition of the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Keywords Studios by Bidco," reads a statement posted on the London Stock Exchange. "The Acquisition is to be effected by means of a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act."The acquisition values the entire issued and to be issued ordin…

Xbox restructures marketing team as chief Jerret West departs for Roblox

A new report from The Verge reveals Xbox's current marketing chief Jerret West will be leaving on June 30. Afterwards, he'll be working at Roblox as its chief marketing officer and marketing expansion head.The outlet obtained a memo revealing the changes to hit the marketing departments after West's exit. Per Xbox head Phil Spencer in that memo, there'll be an "expanded" game marketing team led by integrated marketing VP Kirsten Ward.Currently, West leads marketing strategy for Xbox games, hardware, and Game Pass. He previously worked at the studio from 2003-2011, and after a seven-year Netflix stint, returned in 2019 to lead marketing for the Xbox Series X|S.His leave comes a few months after the exit of corporate VP Kareem Choudhry in early April. Like West,…

Rise of the Ronin already outselling the Nioh series, says Koei Tecmo

Rise of the Ronin has been out for over a month, but Koei Tecmo is already singing its praises.In its writeup for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, the developer singles out Team Ninja's newest action title. It claims sales have already surpassed the two Nioh games, and has a "high valuation" with players.It's worth noted both Nioh games collectively sold 7 million units as of October 2022. It may be the studio is comparing Ronin's sales to those games' initial start—within a month, those games sold sold over 3 million and 2 million units, respectively.Like both Nioh games, Sony Interactive published Ronin, which is currently a PlayStation 5 exclusive. It's unclear when it'll be ported to PC, and if Koei Tecmo will handle publishing duties for it.