Zynga buys Echtra game studio in push for cross-platform play
(Reuters) - Zynga Inc said on Wednesday it had acquired San Francisco-based game studio Echtra Games Inc, taking the mobile-game maker a step closer to its goal of developing a portfolio of new titles that users can play across platforms.
Echtra was founded in 2016 by Max Schaefer who is known for his role in the development of Activision Blizzard's popular role-playing franchise "Diablo". It is the developer behind "Torchlight III", the third installment in the action role-playing franchise.
Zynga had said in February its NaturalMotion studio was developing four new games focused on the action-adventure category.
As per the deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, Echtra's team will work in partnership with the NaturalMotion studio to develop one of those titles, which would be in the role-playing genre.
Last year, Zynga had acquired Turkish mobile-game maker Peak and an 80% stake in Istanbul-based hyper-casual game maker Rollic.
(Reporting by Ayanti Bera and Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
