Activision Wants More Casual Gaming With Budcat Creations

The Wii’s dominance in the video game market hasn’t been because of the fanboys and hardcore gamers that have put the likes of Microsoft’s Halo and Sony’s God of War on the map. It’s been because of titles like Wii Sports, Wii Fit and to a lesser extent, Wii Play. Activision is looking to further cash in on the Wii’s casual product line with their acquisition of developer Budcat Creations, who have a lot of experience in the department of software development for Nintendo hardware.

"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. "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."

What does this acquisition really mean? Well, Budcat Creations just got owned by Activision. Plain and simple. They’re now a subsidiary development branch under Activision’s wing. The acquisition makes plenty of sense, though, as Activision was publishing Guitar Hero games, and Budcat is the development studio who has been pumping out Guitar Hero games for the DS and Wii. Speaking of which, Budcat Creations is currently hard at work on yet another Guitar Hero game.

"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."

Well, keep creating great games Budcat Creations...otherwise, Activision might throw you away like Microsoft did with Ensemble Studios. Anyway, be sure to stay tuned in with Blend Games for more news and info on the latest titles, or drop by the Blend Games Forum for discussions on your favorite games.