Ubi Soft Acquires Driver Franchise

I am a huge fan of Ubi Soft’s Pro Rally games, and now they have Driver to boot.

Today Ubisoft announced it will acquire the Driver franchise, taking the wheel from Atari, which has published the action-on-wheels series for years now. In an agreement expected to close soon, Ubisoft will pay 19 million euros ($24 million) in cash for the franchise, technology rights, and most assets. Additionally, though Ubisoft is not acquiring the studio outright, the 80 members of Driver developer Reflections Interactive will become employees of Ubisoft.

“We are thrilled with this acquisition which will allow us to add a prestigious title to our catalog and to enter into the driving games segment, one of the most important segments in the gaming industry,” commented Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. “With more than 14 million units sold throughout the world, Driver is one of the most successful brands in the history of video games. We look forward to leveraging the unique knowledge of the Ubisoft studios to ensure that Driver will be one of the leading brands of the next generation of consoles.” 

Just how Ubisoft will develop the Driver franchise remains to be seen; the company is not announcing any new titles just yet.

Driver began as a stylized, crime-touched racer, but subsequent games introduced overt action elements including, eventually, on-foot running and gunning. The most recent installment, Driver: Parallel Lines, was published by Atari in March. Atari will retain rights to Parallel Lines through the end of 2006.



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