Chinese tech and gaming giant NetEase has acquired Canadian developer SkyBox Labs, which was involved in the development of Halo Infinite, Minecraft games, and Fallout 76, among others. Founded in 2011 in Burnaby and Victoria, the studio is also responsible for developing titles for Xbox Game Studios and Electronic Arts and has released two of its own games to date: TASTEE: Lethal Tactics in 2016 and Stela in 2019.
Independence under NetEase
Following Friday's announcement, SkyBox will remain independent within NetEase Games and be led by the three co-founders Shyang Kong, Derek MacNeil, and Steven Silvester. The studio will continue to work closely with existing partners to develop games for PC and console, and add new partners in the future.
"We've built a team of talented and passionate individuals and by joining NetEase Games we'll be able to accelerate our plans to pursue new creative opportunities and gain access to NetEase's world-class operational resources and full suite of services to enable us to grow faster in Canada," said SkyBox founder Kong.
In recent years, NetEase has acquired a number of studios, including SkyBox Labs. Other studios acquired by NetEase include No More Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture and Quantic Dream, the Parisian studio behind Heavy Rain, Detroit: Become Human, and Beyond: Two Souls. Last year, Yakuza creator Toshihiro Nagoshi founded Nagoshi Studio, a fully-owned subsidiary of NetEase Games focused primarily on developing "high-end" titles for consoles.
