Sumo Group acquires business which holds licence for World Snooker Tour brand

Sumo Group, which is a provider of creative and development services to the video games and entertainment industries, has acquired Lab42 Limited,, a cross-platform work for hire studio, providing co-development and full game development services, for a total cash consideration of $0.6 million.

In a statement, Sumo Group said: "The acquisition supports Sumo Group's growth strategy through increased capacity, adding 29 people, and a strengthened presence in the talent hot spot of Leamington Spa. Lab42 also adds a number of new client relationships.

"The business and its managing director, Ed Blincoe, are well known to the group, in particular to Sumo Digital's managing director, Gary Dunn, and the team at Sumo Digital's Leamington Spa studio, which opened in 2019.

"The Lab42 studio has worked on 17 projects for console, PC and mobile, since it was established in January 2015. Past and present clients include Sega Europe Publishing, Klei Entertainment, Aspyr, Ripstone, Dovetail Games and Payload Studios."

"Lab42 holds an exclusive licence to use the World Snooker Tour brand and was sole developer on the photo-realistic, sports simulation game Snooker 19 for all major consoles and PC, published by Ripstone. Lab42 is continuing development on World Snooker products and expects to launch additional games on new devices later this year."

"Other well-known titles on which Lab42 has worked include Yakuza 0 and Yakuza Kiwami, Football Manager Touch 18, Sonic Mania, Terratech and Fishing Sim World."

The business, which operates from a single studio in Leamington Spa, was acquired from You42 Inc., a company registered in Delaware, USA. Led by Ed Blincoe, the business will continue to operate under the Lab42 name as part of the Sumo Group in the same manner as Red Kite Games and The Chinese Room.

In the year ended 31 December 2019, Lab42 reported unaudited revenue of £1.4m.

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