Demiurge Studios is back to being an indie studio after its co-founder repurchased the company back from Sega.
Demiurge isn't a studio that you hear much about. That's by design--the developer has been mostly a support studio for much of its life. After being founded in 2002, Demiurge has helped many AAA developers get their games out the door, including 2K Games with BioShock, BioWare with Mass Effect, and Gearbox with Borderlands. Sometimes they offered multiplayer map assets, while other times they worked on game optimization for PCs or consoles.
After playing support to the biggest names in gaming, Demiurge moved into the mobile market with Marvel Puzzle Quest--one of the few games that Demiurge made as a solo act. After the success of that mobile title, Demiurge caught the attention of Sega who purchased the company in 2015 for their own mobile gaming division and helped to create SEGA Heroes and Crazy Taxi Gazillionaire.
Now, five years later, Demiurge is going back to being an indie studio after co-founder Albert Reed purchased the studio back from Sega. Reed plans to take Demiurge back to its roots and offer support services to AAA developers for their next-gen titles.
"We can’t be more excited to embark on this new yet familiar adventure as we return to Demiurge’s foundation," Demiurge wrote on their website. "We will continue our unrivaled tradition of partnering with world-class game developers and publishers to release fantastic games that players love."
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Reed revealed that Sega was "looking to make a strategic change" and reached out to him about reacquiring Demiurge. The studio is mostly the same as when Reed left in 2017 to pursue his own interests, with mostly the same staff.
Demiurge will continue to operate Marvel Puzzle Quest and SEGA Heroes, but will also seek out new opportunities with the AAA industry. Reed expects many opportunities to be on the horizon with the upcoming release of next-gen consoles where Demiurge can leverage its expertise in performance optimization.
Source: GamesIndustry.biz, Demiurge