Buena Vista Games to acquire Climax Racing

Disney-owned publisher picks up developer of ATV Offroad Fury, Xbox and PC MotoGP titles.

Disney-owned Buena Vista Games is continuing to establish itself as a player in the gaming world. Aside from games based on its parent-company's myriad golden-goose licenses like The Little Mermaid and Pirates of the Caribbean, the publisher is putting out a number of games aimed at more traditional gamers, like the next-gen Turok or Q Entertainment's lineup of Lumines Plus, Lumines II, Meteos: Disney Edition, and Every Extend Extra. Buena Vista Games said it expects the deal to close in early October.

Now it appears that Buena Vista Games is moving further into the traditional game space, as it has announced the impending acquisition of Brighton, England-based Climax Racing. The studio is best known as the developer of THQ's MotoGP games and Sony's ATV Offroad Fury series.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Pacific Crest Securities analyst Evan Wilson estimated it to be roughly in the range of $20 million to $50 million.

"This move should be of little surprise to investors as [Disney] has made it clear that they have serious intentions in games for some time," Wilson said in a note to investors. "[Disney] mentions games as one of its primary areas of investment in nearly every presentation, and future acquisitions are likely."

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian also weighed in on the impact the move would have on THQ with a note to investors. Believing that MotoGP is not a core franchise for the publisher, Sebastian said it caters to a niche audience and has "limited blockbuster potential."

As for future installments of MotoGP, Sebastian said that THQ still has the license to the series and that he expects Climax to finish up work on the unannounced MotoGP 07. After that, Sebastian said THQ will hand the franchise to another studio or possibly discontinue it entirely.

Sony has not returned a request for comment on how this acquisition would affect the ATV Offroad Fury series. ATV Offroad Fury 4 for the PlayStation 2 and ATV Offroad Fury Pro for the PlayStation Portable are both expected to launch next month.

As of press time, Disney stock was essentially flat, while THQ shares were trading down $1.07, a little over 3 percent, to $29.80.

[UPDATE] The fate of the MotoGP series seems to be up in the air, as a THQ spokesperson told GameSpot that the publisher is currently evaluating the brand to decide if it's worth pursuing in 2008 and beyond.

18 Comments

  • _Sam_

    Posted Sep 30, 2006 8:25 pm PT

    who is going to buy a company next

  • piecake

    Posted Sep 29, 2006 3:53 pm PT

    boo disney

  • trebl1

    Posted Sep 29, 2006 6:03 am PT

    "Future acquisitions are likely"

    I don't know if I like the sounds of that. If Disney games haven't been great in the past, what is going to make them so now? This could be a demise for smaller studios... or it could mean that with extra resources some studios could really implement their visions into their games...

    The soound of this conglomorate just doesn't appease me though.

  • mark_unix

    Posted Sep 29, 2006 1:21 am PT

    so MotoGP coming to the PS3 then...
    since sony and disney have a platform agreement.

    and no minime78362, they won't kill a top rated game
    only microsoft would do that...

  • wenbin09

    Posted Sep 29, 2006 12:11 am PT

    coool...

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 11:47 pm PT

    ...interesting

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 8:44 pm PT

    well i dont really like motogp anyways so im ok with it

  • minime78362

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 6:45 pm PT

    If they discontinue Moto GP, it will be a sad day for us all....

  • John_of_Fire

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 5:44 pm PT

    What the hell is Disney going to do with the worlds best Motorcycle videogame company?

  • MadGamer132

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 1:43 pm PT

    It is a good thing that Disney has a studio to make games, it doesn't matter if it is traditional or licensed.

  • Doolum

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 1:20 pm PT

    Not that i have any grudge with them people but i dont think i have ever played any game from BV.Well lets see what they come up with in the near future

  • gamerchikrpg

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 11:47 am PT

    *thinks dirty thoughts*

    hehehehehe

  • Kreestas

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 11:41 am PT

    nice, more lumines games, i still cant put it down!

  • night_kids311

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 11:31 am PT

    well there is nothing they can do to mess up moto Gp that game sucks big time

  • TheMierArmy

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 11:24 am PT

    hmmm

  • bryehngeocef

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 11:07 am PT

    what a waste of money though. ATV Offroad Fury 4 is recycled garbage. Hopefully they (Climax) improve their production values and don't just churn out Mickey Mouse kart racers.

  • blackIceJoe

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 11:00 am PT

    Great Buena Vista makes bad games. But maybe they will start making games for older people. So I think this was a smart move on there part but not sure on how the games will turn out though. I have been seeing them getting many things to lose the kids kind of games like buying the licences for Turok.

  • Dolacide

    Posted Sep 28, 2006 10:53 am PT

    Disney is looking to make actual good games, besides churning out crap, wow.

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