Frontier Developments (Dog’s Life, Elite: Dangerous, Jurassic World Evolution, F1 Manager 2022) has acquired its development partner Complex Games, a Canada-based studio responsible for Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters, which was published by Frontier under its Frontier Foundry third-party games label.
With its first acquisition, UK-based Frontier Developments seeks to establish a presence in Canada, specifically in Manitoba, where there is “an extensive and growing talent pool for videogame development.”
Jonny Watts, CEO of Frontier Developments, said:
When we launched our third-party publishing strategy in 2019 we were excited by the potential to align our Frontier Foundry development partners more formally with Frontier through acquisition. Our experience with Complex Games on Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters has been terrific, and I am delighted to welcome Noah and the team to Frontier, with a view to growing and evolving our development team in Manitoba, Canada. This is Frontier’s first acquisition and we will continue to explore opportunities to grow Frontier’s resources to further develop and nurture our portfolio.
Noah Decter-Jackson, CEO of Complex Games, indicated that he will continue to serve in his current capacity under Frontier’s ownership while overseeing the studio’s expansion into Winnipeg, Canada:
Working with Frontier on Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters has been a great experience and I am excited about our growth plans for our Winnipeg studio. I am really proud of Complex Games’ achievements and I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved with that success over many years. I look forward to developing even more great games in the future as part of Frontier.
All in all, it appears that Complex Games will retain its creative voice and footprint under Frontier Developments. Founded in 2001 by Noah Decter-Jackson and Adrian Cheater, the studio has over 20 years of experience with video game development across a variety of genres and platforms. The studio in Winnipeg is set to develop “even more ambitious titles,” and support for Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters will continue.
Frontier Developments’ desire to establish itself as a major player in the industry will see it developing three more F1-licensed titles in its F1 Manager series, though F1 Manager 2022’s content cycle is already concluding only two months after release.