Tinybuild acquires The Banner Saga publisher Versus Evil and QA studio Red Cerberus

Tinybuild has acquired The Banner Saga publisher Versus Evil and Brazilian testing studio Red Cerberus for a combined $31.3 million. 

As noted in a blog post, the deal will see Tinybuild hand over an initial $12.5 million alongside $18.8 million in earnouts over three years.

Following the deal, Versus Evil will continue as a "complementary publishing label," with the U.S. publisher having already put its name to titles including Pillars of Eternity 2 and The Banner Saga.

Red Cerberus, which had been serving as Versus Evil's internal testing and QA studio, will provide Tinybuild and its first-party studios with additional dev and QA support.

The double swoop means Tinybuild has now completed seven M&A deals in 2021, taking its headcount to over 400 staff across 11 locations.

Tinybuild CEO and co-founder Alex Nichiporchik said both deals will allow the publisher to bolster its in-house services while expanding into emerging territories.

"Back in March we laid out a very clear strategy: we want ambitious founders to join us and help bring the company to a new level, together," said the chief exec. "This included several pillars for our M&A strategy, 3 of which are: a complimentary publishing label, an in-house service provider, and strategic expansion into emerging regions such as South America."