Dublin-based Keywords Studios has set up a new venture capital fund, all in the name of investing in technologies that will benefit the game development companies that make use of Keywords’ services.
Keywords explains that decisions on investments are to be handed down by a committee made up of senior Keywords executives, and the investments themselves will typically see Keywords Ventures picking up a minority stake in companies.
Already, the newly established Keywords Ventures has pledged to invest up to £300,000, (~$396,600) in AS Analyser creator AppSecTest, pending delivery of development milestones, in exchange for a 45 percent share in the company, as well as exclusive rights to commercialize AS Analyser upon release. Keywords describe’s AppSecTest’s tech as a cloud-based automatic testing solution for mobile apps and games, something that it believes fits right into the venture fund’s goal of accelerating game dev-boosting tech and services.
“Our strategy to consolidate the fragmented market for video games services remains unchanged with Keywords Ventures being highly complementary to this in bringing additional capabilities to our global services platform,” said Keywords Studios CEO Andrew Day in a statement. “Keywords Ventures will be making selective and relatively small investments in companies where we can help commercialize complimentary products or services, with our annual investment in Keywords Ventures unlikely to exceed 5% of our annual spend on acquisitions.”
Even prior to establishing its venture fund, the company has long made a habit out of both acquiring and picking up sizable stakes in companies that provide interesting services for game developers and publishers. Just within the past few months, the studio acquired the game production company Blindlight for an undisclosed sum, the marketing company Fire Without Smoke for $6.9 million, and the audio companies Cord and Laced for undisclosed sums. Just recently, Keywords Studios also scooped up an $88 million credit line to be used on new acquisitions and investments as well.