GungHo Take Over Tenchu And Shinobido Developer Acquire

Ragnarok Online host, GungHo, have acquired Tenchu and Shinobido developer, Acquire, the company announced today.

Acquire’s parent company was formerly Aeria Inc., whose western division you may know for online games like Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine and Dynasty Warriors Online.

Aeria held a 50.1% stake in Acquire, all of which was purchased by GungHo, giving them the majority stake in the developer. In a document hosted on Aeria’s website, the company states that, recently, there has been an influx of users to their online games, which are described as the company’s “main pillar”. At the same time, Aeria have also noted the spread of smartphones.

In light of these factors, Aeria see an opportunity to expand their online games business going forward, and will focus their resources on doing so. This led to the decision to transfer control of Acquire, who aren’t an online game developer, to GungHo.

Meanwhile, GungHo say that, following  their takeover of Acquire, you can expect to see a strengthening of iPhone game development as well as multi-purpose use of Acquire’s game properties.