Humble Games interested in studio acquisitions and first-party development

gamedeveloper.com:

Humble Bundle EVP and general manager, Alan Patmore, has suggested studio acquisitions and first-party development could be a part of Humble Games' future.

Speaking to Game Developer about the past, present, and future of Humble Games at Gamescom 2023, Patmore said the publisher is currently focused on forging tight-knit relationships with its partners and acquiring IPs on a "deal-by-deal basis."

"It has to be that we're investing in a product that has franchise potential," said Patmore, who previously worked at Double Fine as VP of product development before joining Zynga as studio general manager. "Ideally we'd be expanding and building off some of our core franchises. Wizard of Legend 2 is the tip of the spear of that initiative.

"So, we're looking at continued IP acquisition and then we also want to move a little bit more upmarket–which means investing in higher quality products if it makes sense from a game perspective."

As for whether those IP acquisition plans will eventually snowball into studio buyouts, Patmore said it's a strategy that Humble Games might eventually throw its weight behind.

"I think [studio acquisitions] could be in our future as well," he said. "It makes sense from an economic standpoint. Right now we're doing second-party development, so we own the IP and we have a developer building the product for us. The natural evolution of that is to own the studio."

Patmore wouldn't put a timeframe on those nebulous M&A plans, but reiterated it's something Humble Games is "actively looking at." Notably, he suggested any deals would need to be built around the "right IP with the right partner," and that Humble Games wouldn't be firing from the hip where acquisitions are concerned.

"The overall long-term