Officials from independent developer collective Foundation 9 Entertainment have announced that British developer Sumo Digital, best known for Sega’s
Virtua Tennis 3 and
OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast, is to join the company.
Founded in 2003 from the remnants of key 8-bit British developer and publisher Gremlin Interactive (nee Gremlin Graphics), in recent years Sumo has specialized in conversion work from other studios. Recently it has enjoyed a particularly close relationship with Sega, on the
OutRun and
Virtua Tennis franchises, as well as producing PlayStation Network titles such as
Go! Sudoku and
Super Rub ‘a’ Dub for Sony.
The company is still based in Sheffield, England but also operates an additional office in Pune, India. Currently the developer is working on a number of unannounced titles “for major publishers”. As part of the deal with Foundation 9, Sumo CEO James North-Hearn will become managing director of Foundation 9 Europe, overseeing all European operations.
"The team at Sumo has done a tremendous job building a world class studio in a relatively short amount of time," said Jon Goldman, chairman and CEO of Foundation 9. "By bringing them into our family of existing studios, we're now able to tap into the vast talent pool of game developers overseas and expand the company's presence in the sports and racing genres."
"We're excited to join Foundation 9 and help expand its European presence," said North-Hearn. "We believe joining F9E will bring us tremendous opportunities for growth in the future, as well as the chance to offer many more great games to our publishing partners."
