Mumbo Jumbo take over Ritual
SiN developer acquired
Strange takeovers afoot stateside where casual games publisher Mumbo Jumbo has just announced it is to take over SiN developer Ritual, despite an executive recently assuring the press that the studio would remain independent.
The takeover was led by Mumbo Jumbo founder Ron Dimant, who was himself once the CEO of Ritual before departing the company to create Mumbo Jumbo in 2001. The takeover comes despite current Ritual CEO Ken Harward telling GamesIndustry.biz that despite speculation of a change of ownership, that the company would remain in control of itself.
"The purchase of Ritual Entertainment is consistent with our strategy to bring high-quality casual game content to the major platforms," enthused Dimant, announcing the buy-out. "The combination of Ritual's high-end, multi-platform expertise and our own industry-leading publishing model will set the bar for quality and sophistication in casual games and create a major industry powerhouse."
"The owners, Richard Gray and Rob Atkins, have always stressed the company's independence. So I expect it to continue to be independent. We're not going anywhere. We've got multiple teams running, as usual," Harward had previously stated. He probably feels a little silly now. More on this soon.
