Electronic Arts has acquired Victoria, B.C-based Metalhead Software, the developer of the Super Mega Baseball series.
The publishing giant didn’t reveal specific terms of the deal, although it confirmed that Metalhead will remain in Victoria and “develop new gaming and sports experiences for players worldwide.”
The move helps EA re-enter the baseball gaming market after more than 15 years. Previously, EA Sports developed Triple Play baseball games from 1995 to 2002 before then name changed to MVP Baseball from 2003 to 2005.
However, MLB later signed an exclusive licensing deal with Take-Two Interactive led EA Sports to drop out of making baseball sims. PlayStation’s MLB The Show series — which just expanded to Xbox for the first time ever — is now the sole MLB baseball game on the market.
EA, meanwhile, remains the leading sports games publisher thanks to its best-selling FIFA and NHL franchises, which are both developed by EA Vancouver.
Super Mega Baseball also offers EA a different kind of baseball sim from the photo-realistic MLB The Show, as Metalhead’s series opts for a more cartoonish and arcadey style. The series’ most recent entry, Super Mega Baseball 3, released last year to positive reviews.
Metalhead is the latest in a growing line of EA-owned Canadian studios, following BioWare Edmonton (Mass Effect), EA Motive in Montreal and Vancouver (Star Wars: Squadrons), Charlottetown, P.E.I.’s Red Crow (The Simpsons: Tapped Out), Frostbite Labs in Vancouver (Battlefield), Respawn Vancouver (Apex Legends) and, most recently, Full Circle in Vancouver (the next Skate game).
Image credit: Metalhead
Via: GamesIndustry.biz
