Crypto gaming company Animoca Brands has acquired Sydney-based indie gaming company Blowfish Studios for $9 million in cash and shares plus up to $26 million in performance targets.

The privately-held North Sydney gaming company is the publisher of Siegecraft, Qbism, Morphite, Projection: First Light and Storm Boy.

“This is a huge milestone in our journey, the start of a new chapter that the team is really excited to embark on!” Blowfish posted on Linkedin, where it is listed as having 30 employees.

Animoca co-founder and chairman Yat Siu said that the Blowfish team “significantly expands our capacity in the cross-platform games space” and already has a strong interest in blockchain.

“The combination of unique capabilities in AAA gaming and blockchain is a rare and valuable blend and we are already hard at work on a number of very exciting projects to be announced soon.”

The current team at Blowfish will keep operating the company after the acquisition, working to align it with Animoca’s interest in blockchain gaming and fungible and non-fungible tokens.

Blowfish co-founder and managing director Benjamin Lee said that joining Animoca was a chance to ” leapfrog to the forefront of blockchain gaming.

“We are incredibly excited about our major upcoming releases developed with Animoca Brands, which will change the perception of blockchain gaming for midcore and hardcore gamers everywhere.”

Animoca will pay another $1 million in cash and $5 million in shares if Lee and co-founder and creative director Aaron Grove stay on for another two years.

The pair founded the studio in 2010.

Formerly ASX-listed, Hong Kong-based Animoca will also pay up to $20 million more if Blowfish meets certain profitability targets in 2022 and 2023.

Here’s a trailer for its upcoming game Blackwind, “a hack n slash shooter platformer sci-fi action game that puts you against hordes of enemies and frantic battles in a desperate attempt to stop a planetary invasion”.

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