Sony paid £16 million for Evolution Studios

Sony's acquisition of MotorStorm developer Evolution Studios and its PSP satellite Bigbig Studios cost the company £16 million (EUR 22.9m / USD 32.6m).

According to a report by the Liverpool Daily Post, chief executive and co-founder Martin Kenwright held a 75 per cent stake in the company, netting him GBP 12 million from the sale. Ian Hetherington, chairman and co-founder, held most of the rest of the shares.

The MotorStorm developer was snapped up by Sony last month, after the racing studio delivered one of the most critically acclaimed and best-selling titles for the PlayStation 3.

At the time, Michael Denny, vice president of SCE Worldwide Studios told GamesIndustry.biz, "We've enjoyed a highly productive and commercially successful relationship with Evolution and now there's a great opportunity in bringing them into part of the family to share further in terms of technology, production methodology and creative goals to make the experiences that these teams are creating even better."

Evolution was established in 1999, but co-founders Kenwright and Hetherington decided to leave the business following the acquisition.

Evolution is currently working a disc-based sequel to MotorStorm as well as further downloadable content, while Bigbig Studios is putting the finishing touches to Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice for the PSP.