Metaverse pioneer Improbable has sold its gaming division Multiplayer Group.
MPG, acquired in 2019 for 拢30 million, provides multiplayer services to dozens of global publishers including Activision Blizzard and Epic Games.
It has been sold to listed acquisitive games firm Keywords Studios, based in Dublin, for 拢76.5m after growing its workforce six-fold to around 360.
鈥淲e are delighted to see MPG embark on its next chapter with Keywords, who we鈥檝e always seen as a like-minded business partner,鈥� said Improbable founder and CEO Herman Narula (pictured).
鈥淣urturing and fostering ventures across Sports, web3, fashion is at the heart of our philosophy and allows us to realise lasting value. We are confident that MPG will continue to grow within the Keywords environment, while this first success allows us to continue to deliver on our venture dealbook in 2024.鈥�
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Improbable, the UK鈥檚 poster child for virtual worlds technology for more than a decade, narrowed losses by 拢131 million to just 拢19m last year.
The London company, 12th on our MediaTech 50 ranking this year, saw revenue growth of 2.6x to 拢78m in 2022 after adopting a more targeted operating model amid the hype of the metaverse.
Having made a loss of 拢129m in 2020 then 拢152m in 2021, it had hoped to achieve profitability in 2022 but just fell short.
In June this year it disposed of its defence and national security business to deepen its focus on the metaverse.