Holborn marketing firm acquired by global gaming group in £3.2m deal

A firm specialising in creative and marketing services for the video game industry has been bought by an international studio in a £3.2m acquisition.

Ichi Holdings has been purchased by technical and creative services provider Keywords Studios, one of a trio of new acquisitions announced today by the Dublin-based firm.

Founded in 2009, Ichi has 13 staff at its Holborn office in London, providing creative and marketing services to game publishers such as Square Enix, NaturalMotion, Deep Silver and Sports Interactive, as well as sports brands such as Puma and entertainment content companies including Netflix.

The acquisition of Ichi will see founder Liz Corless continue as the firm’s studio head, with the rest of the team also remaining with the business.

Keywords Studios’ acquisition of Ichi - alongside translation technology firm Kantan and gaming audio specialist Syllabes - form part of the group’s larger strategy to be the ‘go-to technical and creative services platform’ for the global video games industry.

Andrew Day, CEO of Keywords Studios commented: “We are delighted to have made three high calibre acquisitions.

“Ichi’s high value-add branding strategy and marketing expertise are key to determining the success of a game or product, so they will be a valuable addition to the Group’s range of marketing services.

“We look forward to working with the highly experienced and creative teams at Kantan, Ichi and Syllabes, to support their growth as part of the Keywords family as they, in turn, help us to build further upon our reputation as the leading provider of highly specialised video games services around the world.”