Keywords Studios Plc Regulatory News (KWS)

21 February 2019

Keywords Studios plc ("Keywords", "the Group")

Acquisition of GetSocial

Further Strengthening the Group's Technology base and Marketing Services capabilities

Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has acquired the assets and business of GetSocial B.V. a company based in The Hague, Netherlands.

GetSocial is a cloud-based software platform that provides a comprehensive and robust suite of functions that enable games developers to manage all social interactions between their game, their players and their friends' networks. Providing a toolkit for customer acquisition, customer retention and customer engagement, GetSocial clients include mobile game companies such as Ubisoft Mobile Games, Sega, Truly Social Games and Kolibri Games.

GetSocial works with Android, iOS and Unity apps, and supports interactions on most social media and messaging platforms including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, Kakao, Viber, Hangouts, and Kik. The GetSocial platform powers referrals and in-app communities for 100+ million users and has a proven track record of helping to retain existing players and acquire new players, thereby increasing the lifetime value of players for its clients.

GetSocial's team of 12 engineers led by CEO, Jeroen Bouman, and COO and Founder, Viral Patel, are all joining Keywords. GetSocial is currently in a development phase, having invested ahead of building revenues, but it is expected to become profitable during 2020.

GetSocial further expands our range of cloud-based solutions which includes AS Analyser (automated GDPR compliance testing for Android and iOS apps), Yokozuna Data (cloud based predictive analytics and machine learning platform for predicting individual player behaviours and automated actions), XLOC (content management system for video game localisation), and Conform (3D geospatial visualisation software for procedural generation of cityscapes and terrains for games, simulation and urban planning).

Andrew Day, CEO of Keywords Studios commented:

"I am delighted to welcome the talented GetSocial team to the Keywords family. It extends our technology base further, bringing to Keywords a leading edge capability built around the social interactions of players in games, which we hope to promote more widely and develop further.

"As part of the Group, GetSocial will work alongside both our engineering and marketing services teams. It will be fully supported by our worldwide sales team in introducing these capabilities to Keywords' game developer and publisher clients globally, for whom technology that supports social sharing is an important part of attracting and retaining gamers."

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About Keywords Studios (www.keywordsstudios.com) 

Keywords Studios is an international technical services provider to the global video games industry. Established in 1998, and now with over 50 facilities in 21 countries strategically located in Asia, the Americas and Europe, it provides integrated art creation, software engineering, testing, localisation, audio and customer care services across more than 50 languages and 16 games platforms to a blue-chip client base across the globe. It has a strong market position, providing services to 23 of the top 25 most prominent games companies, including Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Electronic Arts, Konami, Riot Games, Sony, Square Enix, Supercell, TakeTwo, Epic Games and Ubisoft. Recent titles worked on include Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Call of Duty: WWII, Mortal Combat X, Assassin's Creed Origins, Battlefield 1, League of Legends, Fortnite, Clash Royale and Rainbow Six Siege. Keywords Studios is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (KWS.L).

About GetSocial (www.getsocial.im)

GetSocial is a complete solution to drive user engagement, retention, monetization and acquisition through the use of player interaction. It enables game developers and publishers to quickly add social features into their games that let users build communities, connect with friends and other users as well as share content. Audiences can be grouped together based on (social) behaviour to receive direct marketing, all underpinned by a business intelligence platform to measure the effectiveness of campaigns and behaviours. GetSocial was founded in 2012 in the Netherlands, and its customers include Sega, Kolibri Games, GoGame, Godzilab, Eden Games, Truly Social Games.