EA Invests in Kodiak

Electronic Arts has had made a minority investment in Salt Lake City, Utah-based game developer Kodiak Interactive Software Studios.

The two companies also entered into a long-term multi-title development agreement that will see Kodiak develop games for EA based on the World Championship Wrestling license for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 platforms.

George Metos formed Kodiak in 1997 after leaving Sculptured Software, which he also founded and where he served as president. Metos and the other 20 or so members of Kodiak have worked on NCAA Basketball, Super Star Wars, Mortal Kombat 1, 2, and 3, NHL Breakaway Hockey, Aces Over the Pacific, and NBA Jam Extreme. Metos left Sculptured Software after it was bought by Acclaim Entertainment.

Like many of the big players in today's electronic industry, EA is on somewhat of a buying spree. The company picked up Maitland, Florida-developer Tiburon Entertainment in April and calls its investment in Kodiak "part of the company's strategy to invest in or acquire high-quality entertainment software studios."