Eidos Interactive, one of the world's leading publishers and developers of entertainment software, has reached an agreement to acquire Rockpool Games, one of Europe's leading developers of games and content for wireless devices and Rockpool's two sister companies; Ironstone Partners and SoGoPlay.

The deal will see Eidos acquire the company's Manchester studios along with 36 staff who will continue to work on a number of premium games currently in development. All three companies will become an integral part of the Eidos New Media division, building additional resource and critically adding the expertise of an internal development team.

"We believe that the global market for mobile games is set to grow considerably over the next few years from around $3billion in 2006 to $10billion in 2009 (source: Juniper Research), and that casual games are also becoming increasingly important. Rockpool's breadth of activity, including not only mobile games but casual PC games, fits well with Eidos' strategy to expand the company's business in this direction and will strengthen our position in these consistently growing markets," said Jane Cavanagh, Chief Executive, Eidos.

Rockpool Games has built a commendable reputation as an independent mobile content developer and was a finalist in the Mobile Entertainment Awards "Best Developer" category. Many of their recent game developments have received critical acclaim by the press including a series of ten-out-of-ten scores in the last twelve months. Rockpool has been entrusted to develop mobile content for some of the most-important brands in the sector including; Worms, MotoGP, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Toca Race Driver.

Ironstone Partners is a licensing company which owns an extensive portfolio of Intellectual Property Rights and has operated primarily in the computer and video games, toy, electronics and mobile media markets. Ironstone has licensing relationships across many sectors and manages the Epyx back catalogue of classic video games alondside some of the world's most-recognised brands including Top Trumps, Withit and Commodore.

SoGoPlay is premier developer and publisher of compelling games for the casual gaming market whose primary target is distinctly different to that of the hardcore computer and video game sector. SoGoPlay works with licensed IP and creates its own brands and concepts and publishes them via its own gaming portal and simultaneously via the world's best-known gaming websites.

"This acquisition is a tremendously exciting prospect for Eidos. Rockpool brings us a rich pool of talent along with a proven ability to deliver high-quality projects. In addition to their continued work on external projects, we look forward to bringing their experience and creativity to bear on some of our own titles over the coming months," said Simon Protheroe, New Media and IT Director, Eidos.

"This deal marks a major leap forward in the development of our businesses. Being part of the Eidos family means that we can accelerate our growth and build on the great achievements we have already made in the mobile, casual and wider games market. We are very excited about what the future holds and believe we have found the right home, for our people, our brands, our technology and for our strategy," said Paul Gouge, Managing Director of Rockpool Games.

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