Epic acquires Horizon Chase Turbo developer Aquiris to work on Fortnite
Will become Epic Games Brasil.
Epic Games has gripped another studio in a permanent money hug, this time acquiring Horizon Chase Turbo developer Aquiris to work on Fortnite.
The Brazil-based Aquiris was founded in 2007 and went on to develop the well-received Wonderbox: The Adventure Maker and Looney Tunes World of Mayhem for mobile, as well as its retro-inspired arcade racer Horizon Chase which released in 2015.
A much-expanded - and critically acclaimed - follow-up, Horizon Chase Turbo, arrived in 2018, whisking the series from mobile to PC and consoles, and Aquiris launched a third entry in the series, Horizon Chase 2, on Apple Arcade at the end of last year.
Aquiris first linked arms with Epic in early 2022, when the Fortnite maker invested an undisclosed amount in the studio and signed a publishing deal to produce a number of games. And now, Epic has announced it's acquired Aquiris outright for an undisclosed sum, renaming it Epic Games Brasil - the company's first Latin America studio.
Unfortunately, it seems Epic's previous multi-game aspirations for Aquiris are no more, with today's announcement saying the studio will now "leverage [its] experience using Unreal Engine on game development to contribute to the future of Fortnite".
It sounds like a similar deal to Epic's purchase of Rock Band developer Harmonix back in 2021, which - despite a legacy of creating genre-defining music titles - was put to work making nebulous "musical journeys and gameplay" for Fortnite after its acquisition.
"We’ve seen firsthand the impressive talents of the Aquiris team in creating innovative games that draw global appeal", Epic's Alain Tascan said in a statement accompanying today's news. "With the creation of Epic Games Brasil, we look forward to tapping into the immense talent the region has to offer and establishing our presence in Latin America."