Activision Publishing has worked with Budcat Creations on the development of multiple games in the Guitar Hero franchise including Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero World Tour. The studio is currently in development on a new game in the Guitar Hero franchise.

"Budcat Creations is an outstanding developer with an experienced management team and a very talented group of programmers, designers and artists," said Mike Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. "In addition to strengthening our development capabilities on the Nintendo platforms, this acquisition increases our Guitar Hero development resources as we continue to grow the franchise and expand our global leadership position in the music-based genre."

"We are thrilled to partner with Activision and believe that this acquisition is a perfect fit for both companies," said Jeremy Andersen, General Manager of Budcat Creations. "Their world class sales and marketing support coupled with best-in-class execution across all areas of their business means that we can focus our time and resources on what we love and do best -- creating great games."

Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Budcat Creations has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Publishing and the company's management team has signed multi-year employment contracts with Activision Publishing. The studio will continue to be based in Iowa City, Iowa. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.