Ubisoft acquires Owlient and Howrse Brand to expand free-to-play portfolio

Ubisoft has announced the acquisition of free-to-play game developer Owlient and its Howrse brand, a free-to-play horse breeding game with almost two million monthly active users.

"We are thrilled to welcome the talented team at Owlient to Ubisoft," said Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer at Ubisoft. "Over the last five years they have developed an architecture dedicated to delivering and monetizing games as a service, as well as the skills of attracting and retaining online communities.

"This acquisition is the next step in the acceleration of Ubisoft’s free-to-play strategy following last year’s launch of Settlers Online, CSI Crime City and Heroes Kingdoms, as well as the recent beta launch of our ambitious title Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online.”

The Owlient acquisition "represents the continuation of Ubisoft’s focus on expanding its online expertise and infrastructure in order to expand its portfolio using new online business models," said the firm in the press release.

Owlient, founded in Paris during 2006 and which employs 40 team members, is just the most recent acquisition from Ubisoft, which starting in 2008 has purchased: Massive Entertainment, Nadeo, and Quazal.