Blizzard acquires Swingin' Ape

Blizzard Entertainment, developer of the best-selling World of Warcraft MMORPG for PC, has announced that it has acquired Swingin' Ape Studios as part of plans to expand into the console market.

Swingin' Ape is already developing Starcraft: Ghost for PC, PS2 and Xbox, the first title Blizzard will publish for consoles. The studio previously produced Metal Arms: Glitch in the System, which was published by Blizzard's corporate parent, Vivendi.

Blizzard president and co-founder Mike Morhaime stated that the buyout was part of a long-term strategy, commenting: "The acquisition of Swingin' Ape Studios takes us one step closer to realising our goal of becoming a top-tier console developer."

All members of Swingin' Ape's 40-strong staff will remain employed at the studio, and will continue work on StarCraft: Ghost in time for the game's Christmas release.