Avalanche hopes on growth with Hunter IP deal

Avalanche Studios has secured the IP rights to online free-to-play game The Hunter – possibly signalling a beginning of new fortunes for the Swedish outfit.

Last year the Just Cause developer lost around £35 million in publishing deals, and had to make around twenty redundancies to help alleviate money roubles.

Projects were called off, others redirected, with the upcoming Just Cause 2 having been seen as a make-or-break opportunity.

However, securing The Hunter IP could be a lucrative deal for the group. The title is said to have above 100,000 registered players, though business details have not been disclosed.

The game was originally a joint project with the UK’s Emote Games, which owned publishing rights to the title built on Avalanche’s own game engine.

"We are very happy that the discussions were concluded in our favor," said Avalanche CTO Linus Blomberg.

"The game has unfortunately suffered from the extremely tough business climate during 2009."

"We are fully committed to the development of The Hunter and to the continued investment in the IP. We will reach out to the community as soon as possible as we are transferring the operations and development of the service to our premises."

The studio will continue tweaking game to better serve its online community. A new update is planned.

Image: Edge