Chair Entertainment Group Acquired By Epic Games

[Sir_Brizz]

In a startling turn of events, we have received a press release just now that Epic has purchased Undertow developer Chair Entertainment Group. It is unknown at this time if the acquisition will have any effect on upcoming Chair games or Chair's location, but you can be sure we will try to figure it out.

"Chair's stylized approach to creating games is further enhanced by their ability to stretch our technology in new directions that not only help in creating amazing gaming experiences but also demonstrate the power and versatility of the Unreal Engine," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, Inc. "We are thrilled to bring the Chair team into the Epic family, and look forward to working with them to create original new games that continue to innovate and inspire."

Press release in the comments thread.

[Sir_Brizz]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE





EPIC GAMES ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF

CHAIR ENTERTAINMENT GROUP



Cary, North Carolina – May 20, 2008 – Epic Games, Inc., creators of the award-winning Unreal and Gears of War video game franchises and the industry leading Unreal Engine, today announced its acquisition of Utah-based development studio, Chair Entertainment Group, LLC. Under the terms of the agreement, Chair Entertainment Group has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Epic Games and will continue to operate under the same name while maintaining its focus on creating new original game properties which utilize Epic's Unreal Engine technology.



"Chair's stylized approach to creating games is further enhanced by their ability to stretch our technology in new directions that not only help in creating amazing gaming experiences but also demonstrate the power and versatility of the Unreal Engine," said Mark Rein, vice president of Epic Games, Inc. "We are thrilled to bring the Chair team into the Epic family, and look forward to working with them to create original new games that continue to innovate and inspire."



"Our team has long admired Epic for its ability to shape the game industry with its innovative technology and first-rate video game offerings," said Ryan Holmes, Co-Founder and CEO of Chair Entertainment Group. "We share Epic's passion for creating ground-breaking game play experiences and are excited for the opportunity to partner with a truly visionary company."



Founded in 2005, Chair Entertainment Group is jointly led by directors, Donald and Geremy Mustard, and CEO Ryan Holmes. Best known for its award-winning Xbox Live Arcade title, Undertow, Chair's previous success includes the launch of its Empire property which has produced an Orson Scott Card-written New York Times bestselling novel and a feature film currently in development with Warner Bros. In 2007, after several years of building games with Unreal technology, Chair entered into an agreement with Epic Games to make Unreal Engine 3 their exclusive technology for game development.

[RoninMastaFX]

please don't flame me if I sound like an idiot (and I greatly apologize if I do ) but I think Epic has done an extremely great thing. Iirc, is this the first company they've bought out? If so, congratulations Epic.

Epic is one step closer to become an even greater company than they were. I mean, they are really good imho, they made errors, but who doesn't? It's not human to make no errors in your life!

[Slainchild]

I think they bought a place in Poland too, the guys that made Painkiller.

[evilmrfrank]

Yea, I'd think buying the painkiller guys is a lot better buy than buying a company that makes arcade games :P Game was good, don't get me wrong!

[Vitamin-Carrot]

Hmmmm interesting read ... I am unfirmiliar with any titles they have

[SirTahngarth]

As the news post mentions, they are best known for their xbox live arcade game, Undertow.

[Slainchild]

So, bets are that Epic want to join the downloadable arcade game race.

[elmuerte]

So... Epic has got a new Chair...

must be some good joke in there... somewhere...

if it was Microsoft that bought Chair I would know a good one, ah well...

[MonsOlympus]

Epin Pinball?

[TomWithTheWeather]

How is this a "startling turn of events"?

[TWD]

Game development in Utah just got really interesting O_o

Ohh maybe they'll give me an internship/job next summer.

[XeroWolf]

Originally Posted by evilmrfrank

Yea, I'd think buying the painkiller guys is a lot better buy than buying a company that makes arcade games :P Game was good, don't get me wrong!

They were also the former group from Majesco that created the so under-rated game called Advent Rising. These guys have so real talent. I just hope that Epic gives them a chance to shine.

[nELsOn]

Originally Posted by XeroWolf

They were also the former group from Majesco that created the so under-rated game called Advent Rising. These guys have so real talent. I just hope that Epic gives them a chance to shine.

from what i've seen of Advent Rising i thought it looked kinda interesting but i never got it because of quite a few pretty bad ratings

[Chandler]

I smell Chair making a new Jazz Jack Rabbit game.

[RoadKillGrill]

Originally Posted by Chandler

I smell Chair making a new Jazz Jack Rabbit game.

holy crap that would be sweet, there hasn't been a good 2d shooter in a long time.

Id also like a remake of abuse

[Sir_Brizz]

Originally Posted by nELsOn

from what i've seen of Advent Rising i thought it looked kinda interesting but i never got it because of quite a few pretty bad ratings

You should give it a try. It's pretty much awesome.

[hal]

Originally Posted by sc

I think they bought a place in Poland too, the guys that made Painkiller.

Yep, People Can Fly. Painkiller was fun.

[Jonathan]

Dear Epic,

In the words of Peter Lynch, just be sure that in all this growth that you don't diworseify.

[Phopojijo]

Artificial Studios (I think they bought the company, not just the engine), Chair, and People Can Fly...