Some Affinity, the studio behind Hogwarts Legacy, the shelved battle royal game Halo Infinite and an early version of the Perfect Dark reboot, has been acquired by Keywords Studios.
In press release published on its websiteKeywords has announced that it will purchase Some Affinity for an undisclosed amount. As a result, Keywords employs 180 people across the United States and Canada, working on a “number of announced and unannounced projects,” including Exodus from Archetype Entertainment, Last Expedition from Gala Games, and an original FPS codenamed Project: Loro. Some Affinity will continue to be led by current management, including CEO Max Hoberman and president and chief operating officer Paul Sams, according to the press release.
Some Affinity is best known for its collaborative development work, dating back to the studio’s founding in 2006 by former Halo creators. Since then, it has continued to work as a supporting studio on the Halo series, as well as Call of Duty, Left 4 Dead, Doom (2016) and others. Project: Loro is the first up-to-date project wholly owned by the company.
In April, “A Certain Affinity”. dismissed 25 employees10% of the workforce, citing as the main reason an industry-wide slowdown in financing and investing in up-to-date lead projects and joint development projects.
This is the second acquisition of Keywords Studios in 2024, which has gained traction following its growth Wushu Studios in August. The company itself has been quietly amassing a huge portfolio of studios and companies under its brand since 2014, including co-creator of Alan Wake Remastered, D3T, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Marvel’s Avengers, co-creator of Heavy Iron, among others. Studios, developer of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD Tantalus Media, co-creator of the Age of Empires Forgotten Empires series, Hollywood production services company Blindlight and PR agency Fortyseven Communications and many others. From 2016 to 2023, Keywords acquired at least four companies per year. Keywords employed more than 13,000 people worldwide at the end of 2023, according to its annual report.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Her posts can be found on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Have a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
