With the news, Maximum Entertainment revealed its current lineup of games that demonstrates the company’s new strategy to increase its creation of owned IP while continuing to release compelling content with external partners. Maximum Entertainment is in the process of acquiring the assets of Romanian game studio FUN Labs to further increase the development talent within Modus Studios.
Maximum Entertainment CEO Christina Seelye announced the new corporate structure on the heels of securing a $30 million USD credit facility yesterday, presenting the company’s new identity and roadmap of upcoming releases rich in variety and distinct playstyles. The exciting roster offers looks at highly anticipated games such as Maximum Football, Smalland: Survive the Wilds, and Bramble: The Mountain King, appealing to a wide range of players.
The roadmap announcements include:
- Maximum Football will launch this year as a free-to-play, live service game
- Smalland: Survive the Wilds launches into early access on March 29, 2023
- New IP from Modus Studios titled Big Truck Country: Mudfest
- New game announcement of Morbid: The Lords of Ire
- Bramble: The Mountain King will release on April 27, 2023
- Teaser of new unnamed own IP “Project Velos” in collaboration with bestselling author, Brandon Tyler Webb
- Brand new gameplay footage of zombie shooter Projekt Z
Maximum Entertainment seeks to increase IP ownership to 30 percent of revenue by 2025 and includes expanding the reach of its transmedia entertainment. The realignment includes creating cross functional teams across the whole group such as finance, data and business intelligence, creative services, QA and porting. Yesterday’s appointment of Thierry Bonnefoi as interim CFO will provide the operational experience and stability to lead this next phase of growth. All of these factors will greatly enhance efficiencies as the company is laser focused on key areas of growth for 2023 and beyond.
“The new Maximum Entertainment structure will reduce risk to the overall organization and provide a new focus on developing our own intellectual property and franchises. The new strategy improves our ability to cover the full value chain of video games across development, publishing, transmedia, sales, and operations. With a mission to deliver magic to the gamer in everyone, we are poised to become the global leader in double-A to triple-I video games,” said Christina Seelye, CEO of the newly launched Maximum Entertainment.
The strategic positioning in the double-A and triple-I sector sets Maximum Entertainment apart from the competition with clearly defined markets in growth areas. This allows its publishing labels and development studios operational and creative freedom while pairing games and partners with teams suited to their talent and experience. In turn, this formula empowers creators to deliver the most engaging, high-quality games.
The company currently has over 100 games in its content pipeline planned across PC and consoles, including 15 of its own IP. The overall portfolio will emphasize specific genres of game development including competitive fighting, sports, shooters, and action/adventure with focus on live service and strategic global transmedia opportunities.
“The addition of the FUN Labs team to Modus Studios and Maximum Entertainment is expected to finalize in the coming weeks and is fully aligned with our strategy of increasing internal studio capability to meet our goal of 30 percent of the revenue generated by our own IP by 2025,” concludes Seelye.
Modus Studios Bucharest is located in Bucharest, Romania, and the FUN Labs team has a longstanding relationship with Maximum Entertainment. The 40 developers are specialized in multi-platform development for consoles and PC, utilizing the latest Unreal Engine technology. The rationale behind the addition is to secure and develop the roadmap by adding highly talented developers and studio capacity in a scalable talent-dense region.
All studios, which include Invictus, Dimfrost, Mane6, Modus Studios Brazil and Modus Studios Bucharest, will be led by Global Studio Director, Bruce Hayles and will fall under the realigned Modus Studios brand. Publishing labels, which include Maximum Games, Modus Games, Merge Games, and Just For Games, have been clearly differentiated and moving forward, all games will be put in the right hands for optimal success.