Miniclip Acquires Eight Pixels Square From Outplay

Miniclip, the Swiss-based online games portal, has acquired mobile games studio Eight Pixels Square, from Outplay for an undisclosed sum.

Founded in 2012 and acquired by Outplay in 2016, Eight Pixels Square is the developer behind numerous action titles including Sniper Strike: Special Ops (35m downloads), Raid HQ and Cartel Kings.

Miniclip has enjoyed great success in the last few years with titles such as 8 Ball Pool, Plague Inc. and Agar.io, with over a billion downloads of its mobile games alone by 2016. The year before the company received a majority investment from Chinese gaming giant Tencent. It is now the largest privately owned online gaming website, valued at over $900 million.

Eight Pixels Square’s focus on shooters and Player Versus Player (PVP) gameplay is likely one of the key reasons for the acquisition. Miniclip CEO Jurgen Post told GamesIndustry.biz:

“With Eight Pixels Square as part of Miniclip, we now have an incredibly experienced resource base that can expand our offering into the mobile shooter genre, and we’re thrilled to see what the team delivers next.”

Meanwhile, the sale will enable Outplay to focus its efforts on the casual gaming market where the company has established a strong reputation and active audience. CEO and founder Doug Hare told PocketGamer.biz:

“We’ve had a very successful and enjoyable relationship with Hugh and Tim and the rest of the Eight Pixels Square team over the last three years but are delighted for them becoming part of the Miniclip family, as we focus on growing our casual audience with the launch of three new games in 2020.”

Eight Pixels Square studio director, Hugh Binns, said:

“Our work with Outplay has given Eight Pixels Square a fantastic platform for future growth.

“To now join the Miniclip family is a thrilling step forward for the evolution of Eight Pixels Square, and allows us to tap into untold resources and opportunities under Miniclip’s guidance.”