Top video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. on Wednesday said it would acquire Criterion Software, developer of the video game franchise "Burnout" and creator of the widely used RenderWare game development tool.
The deal with Canon Europe, a unit of Japan's Canon Inc., is expected to close in the next 30 to 45 days. Both the game studio and the RenderWare operation will be managed from Great Britain.
Terms were not disclosed.
Electronic Arts had previously signed a publishing deal for the third installment in the "Burnout" series. Criterion, with offices around the world and a staff of more than 200, is also developing a new game called "Black" for Electronic Arts.
The RenderWare technology is used by every major publisher in the games industry. Its middleware helps developers build graphics, physics and audio for games.
Electronic Arts has said it plans to boost spending on research and development for the next generation of game consoles, expected in 2005 and 2006, and the company said it would combine current and future versions of RenderWare with its own tools for that development.
It also plans to continue to license RenderWare to other developers. Console hardware makers have said that common sets of tools and development techniques will be increasingly important in the next generation, as production costs soar past $10 million each for top titles.
"In our view, this continues the strategy employed by publishers of late - to increase internal product development capability and to add to their portfolio of intellectual property," Harris Nesbitt Gerard analyst Edward Williams said in a research note.
