Sumo Digital parent company Sumo Group has acquired Auroch Digital, a Bristol UK-based developer that focuses on making new IPs, the company announced today.

While Sumo Group has acquired Auroch Digital, the new acquisition will bring on 48 new staff to their business overall and give them another subsidiary for game development.

In recent news, Sumo Group was acquired by Chinese mega corporation Tencent, for a deal reportedly totaling something around $1.1 billion USD.

Auroch Digital was founded back in 2010 by Tomas and Debbie Rawlings and has been creating original IPs like the recently released Mars Horizon, which is now available for PC (via Steam), Xbox One, Switch, and PlayStation 4.

The acquisition comes after the launch of new publishing division Secret Mode, back in March 2021. While two of Auroch Digital’s live development projects already have publishers, several proposed titles require a publisher and have gotten offers from third parties.

“I’m delighted to welcome Tomas and the Auroch Digital team to the Group,” Carl Cavers, CEO of Sumo Group said. “Given our increasing focus on Own-IP, we are particularly excited by Auroch Digital’s pipeline of original IP. So, while this is a relatively small acquisition, it is a highly significant one for us strategically.”

Dr Tomas Rawlings, Founder and Studio Director of Auroch Digital, added: “We’re really excited to be joining the Sumo Group family. We share so many values and Sumo will be a good home for us. We have a shared desire always to improve the quality and depth of the games we make, a commitment to being a positive and respectful workplace, a desire to invest in new talent, and a shared wish to make a lot of fun, engagement and gameplay for all. Auroch Digital joining Sumo Group really is the natural next step in our journey and we’re really excited to be taking it together.”