Indie games developer set to enter next level with German acquisition

Wakefield- and Nottingham-based indie games developer Team17’s astrogon subsidiary has snapped up German development studio, Independent Arts Software for an undisclosed sum.

Independent Arts has been a third-party development partner of astragon for a number of years. The deal brings a team of “working simulation” developers in-house. This is the first 100% owned studio acquisition by astragon.

Debbie Bestwick MBE, CEO of Team17, said: “This adds further conviction to our belief in astragon, showing they were a key part of our Group’s performance in the first year within Team17 following its acquisition in 2022 and will prove to be an equally important part of our growth journey over the coming years. Led by Julia and Tim, they are an exceptional team and one of the world’s best when it comes to producing original, highly creative IP in the hobbyist ‘working simulations’ sector of the games market, as evidenced by their successful Fire, Police, Bus and Construction simulation titles.

“This is an important opportunity for the astragon team to accelerate its pipeline of new IP and add experienced, fully owned development capability to its operational footprint.”