French Toy Maker Cybergun Buys 50% Share Of War Inc. Developer

French toy-gun maker Cybergun, best known for distributing Softair model toy firearms, has acquired a 50 percent share of online game developer Online Warmongers. Online Warmongers released an online PC shooter earlier this year called War Inc. Battlezone, utilizing a free-to-play model through which players can purchase more weapons and ammunition with real money. News site VentureBeat reports that, while its two sources were not able to supply exactly how much Cybergun had paid for the share, it was based on a valuation of $50 million, meaning that Cybergun may have paid around $25 million. "This strategic investment is a great opportunity not only for the activity of Cybergun video games, but also for the sale of retail products," Cybergun said in a statement. Online Warmongers revealed late last year that it had secured $5 million in an investment round led by Arktos Entertainment Group, with funds going towards its online shooter War Inc. Battlezone. Talking to Gamasutra in July, the company's CMO Matt Candler explained the reasoning behind the free-to-play title, noting "I was looking at the games market, and seeing licensed games were dying... there are still a few key prizes, but for a vast majority of the catalog, that didn't exist." "Digital is really exploding; we're going back to a smaller-scale developer where there are still good profit margins," he explained.