nDreams Acquires Shooty Fruity Developer Near Light
NDreams announced it acquired long-term development partner Near Light, marking the publisher’s first acquisition in nearly 16 years.
Bought for an undisclosed sum, Near Light joins existing nDreams teams split between remote positions as well as offices in Farnsborough and Brighton. Near Light was co-founded by Paul Mottram and Ben Hebb in 2016. The two companies have maintained a working relationship for over five years, and nDreams previously published two of Near Light’s VR games, Perfect and Shooty Fruity — the latter of which eventually came to arcades and Quest.
“We are hugely excited to be deepening nDreams’ relationship with Near Light after many years of fruitful partnerships,” said Tom Gillo, chief development officer for nDreams. “Acquiring the studio will allow us to collaborate even more closely on medium-defining games, not to mention bringing Ben and Paul’s 20+ years of industry experience into the nDreams family to strengthen our own expertise.”
The move follows a $35 million investment in nDreams last March, with the Fracked and Phantom: Covert Ops publisher’s acquisition described as part of accelerating “investments in both internal development and third-party publishing,” suggesting more studios could eventually join them.
nDreams also confirms it’s publishing an unannounced VR game from Near Light, though no other details were provided. Still, there’s a good chance it’ll join Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord on PSVR 2, and CEO Patrick O’Luanaigh previously confirmed it is publishing several PSVR 2 games during that last funding round.
