Build A Rocket Boy, the Scottish-headquartered games studio founded by Leslie Benzies, has announced the acquisition of PlayFusion, a multi-award winning, independent, UK-based game developer and publisher. The acquisition follows the studio’s largest funding raise in Scottish technology this year.
The studio says the combination of the two studios will accelerate growth as BARB continues to develop three core flagship products:
- MindsEye – A Triple-A narrative-driven action thriller game.
- EVERYWHERE – The next-generation immersive gaming and entertainment open world platform.
- ARCADIA – A suite of easy-to-use user-generated content design and publishing tools
PlayFusion CEO & CTO, Mark Gerhard, will join Build A Rocket Boy as Co-CEO alongside Benzies who founded Build A Rocket Boy in 2016.
Gerhard will focus on Build A Rocket Boy’s upcoming pipeline of games and tools and drive business growth, with broader ambitions to expand the platform into multiple entertainment spaces.
Gerhard co-founded PlayFusion in 2015 and was previously CEO & CTO of Jagex, best known for RuneScape, which holds multiple Guinness World Records for the largest Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game with over 250 million player accounts.
Benzies will continue to serve as CEO and Game Director of Build A Rocket Boy, maintaining his vision of creating compelling and immersive entertainment content and a new era of gaming.
Benzies told the Scottish Games Network:
We’ve always admired PlayFusion’s creativity and innovative approach to transmedia entertainment, and joining forces with them will ascend Build A Rocket Boy to our next level of excellence. Our vision has always been to put creativity into the hands of the players and PlayFusion’s shared passion for gaming will help us create a robust offering for our community to seamlessly build their own AAA quality games and create compelling original online experiences soon.
Mark Gerhard, Co-CEO of Build A Rocket Boy, said:
It’s truly an honour and a privilege to join forces with Leslie and the legendary team at Build A Rocket Boy at such a formative time for the video games industry. We have immense drive for delighting our players and we share an exciting vision for the future. This next chapter of our combined studios will deliver on that promise as well as disrupt the industry by democratising premium game development. The core team at PlayFusion has been working together for nearly two decades and we are excited to be at the forefront of ushering in a new era of gaming.
Julia Wittlin, Partner at RedBird Capital added:
We are thrilled that Mark Gerhard and the PlayFusion team are joining Build A Rocket Boy, strengthening the already talented team and enhancing our capabilities as a next-generation media and entertainment company. The PlayFusion team has a long track record and history of gaming, engineering, and creative expertise that pair perfectly with the innovative entertainment ethos spearheaded by Leslie. We are excited for the Build A Rocket Boy team to continue to push the boundaries of immersive entertainment.
Scotland’s Largest Tech Investment 2024
BARB announced in January 2024 that it had closed on an over $110 million Series D fundraising round, led by RedBird Capital Partners and existing and new investors, including Alignment Growth, Endeavor, Galaxy Interactive, GTAM Partners, NetEase Games, Woodline Partners, and others. According to DIGIT, this is the largest investment in a Scottish tech company this year.
IO Interactive
In October 2024, BARB announced that it has signed a deal with IO Interactive, the publisher behind the best-selling Hitman Franchise to release Mind’sEye, which will be built using the EVERYWHERE technology.