Activision to acquire Irish games maker

GAMES PUBLISHER Activision announced its intention to buy up Demonware, a Dublin based games maker.

Activision said it likes the look of the Irish firm because of its multiplayer expertise. It has used DemonWare's technologies in its games since 2005, most recently in the best-seller Call of Duty 3.

DemonWare has two main products - Matchmaking+, which provides community services for multiplayer gaming, including player matching, user profiling and gaming statistics across current-and next-gen consoles and PCs. DemonWare's State Engine is a cross-platform network engine that ensures that console-to-console communications are secure and as lag-free as possible.

Mike Griffith, CEO of Activision Publishing reckons that in the next two to four years, "online gaming will grow significantly as a result of a more seamless plug and play experience provided by the next-generation consoles".

"DemonWare's suite of technologies combined with Activision's own library of tools and technologies will enable us to easily share online development capabilities on multiple platforms across our development studios," he flanneled.

DemonWare will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision and the company's management team and key employees will sign long-term employment contracts with Activision. DemonWare will continue to be headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with offices in Vancouver. The firms declined to state how much money had changed hands. µ

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