Sports and betting entertainment company, Sporty Group, has acquired Sociable Soccer.
Sociable Soccer – the spiritual successor of Jon Hare’s long-running football franchise, Sensible Soccer – is still hugely popular, with its latest iteration, Sociable Soccer 24, out now on PC and Nintendo Switch. Console releases are also slated for later this year.
“I am very proud of my games and business legacy,” Hare told VentureBeat. “It is no mean feat to have run two independent games studios generating numerous successful original IPs spanning five decades and to have now sold both businesses while continuing to develop best-selling games with fans around the world.
“In recent years, game development and publishing has become more complex than ever and the landscape ever more competitive, making it harder for titles to find their audience.
“Bringing our talented development team under the Sporty umbrella allows us to continue to focus on what we do best, designing and creating hit games for as many platforms and gamers as possible,” Hare added. “To be able to do this safely in the knowledge that we have a highly successful, growing sports entertainment conglomerate behind us makes Sporty the ideal partner for us as it will allow us to build better games and expand our audience.”
Gregory Parsons, vice president of business development for Sporty Group, said: “As we continue to enhance and diversify Sporty Group’s overall portfolio, we have been considering adding a football video game to the Sporty ecosystem. As part of this process, we have investigated a number of opportunities in the sector.
“Once we sat down with Jon and his team it was clear that we shared the same ambitions and we were only too happy to bring them into the Sporty family. We have great plans for the future of Sociable Soccer and view this as just the beginning of a journey.”
