Focus Entertainment acquires Dovetail Games

gamesindustry.biz:

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Focus Entertainment has acquired simulation developer and publisher Dovetail Games for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition includes all Dovetail's owned IP, such as the popular Train Simulator Classic and Train Sim World, and senior leadership – including CEO Jon Rissik – will continue to run the company.

While Focus did not disclose the purchase price, the company did say that it "is consistent with the current market multiples." The upfront payment will be mostly cash, with additional earnouts based on company performance in the next few years.

Founded in 2008, Dovetail originally operated as Railsimulator.com and specialised in train simulators before branching into other subgenres, such as flight simulators and fishing.

Focus, meanwhile, is best known for publishing titles ranging from narrative-driven adventure A Plague Tale to recent first-person shooter Atomic Heart. The publisher has also previously released simulation titles such as MudRunner and its sequel SnowRunner, which CEO Sean Brennan tells GamesIndustry.biz makes Dovetail a solid fit for the business.

"Focus historically has enjoyed great success in the simulation space and we believe that we can emulate and build on that success with Dovetail," he says.

"We will continue to be active in the M&A arena going forward... we are certainly not winding down"

"We like their business model based on fully-owned IPs and creating recurrent revenues from regular content updates to a passionate and committed community of fans. Dovetail is perfectly aligned with our strategy and is led by a very talented senior management team who are excited about growing the business further."

Brennan