Starbreeze acquires Defender of the Crown and other Cinemaware IP

Cinemaware’s stable of games IP now has a new owner – Payday developer Starbreeze.

The studio has paid €525k to acquire the company’s assorted games brands, included in which is the Defender of the Crown series. The purchase was made with Starbreeze’s VR platform StarVR in mind.

"Defender of the Crown is one of the games that made me and many others at Starbreeze go into the gaming industry all those years ago," CEO Bo Andersson Klint said. "For many, Cinemaware set the bar for fun and immersive gaming in the Atari and Amiga era.

"For us, as a developer, it will be a pleasure to re-energize and bring these great brands into the new era of VR and other platforms. The classic Cinemaware games are concepts that still in this day are epic imaginations. We will make them excel in excellent VR experiences at our location-based IMAX centers."

Here’s the list of IP included in the deal, which also included all rights to the Cinemaware brand:

• Defender of the Crown
• Wings
• The King of Chicago
• Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon
• Lords of the Rising Sun
• Rocket Ranger
• It Came from the Desert
• It Came from the Desert II: Antheads
• SDI
• TV Sports: Basketball
• TV Sports: Baseball
• TV Sports: Boxing
• TV Sports: Football
• TV Sports: Hockey

Starbreeze yesterday announced that it has acquired the full rights to the Payday series from publisher 505 Games.