Keywords Studios Plc Regulatory News (KWS)

22nd March 2016

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

Outsourcing agreement and acquisition of Ankama Asia Pte Ltd

- Expansion into the Philippines, adding new Live Operations services

Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces the acquisition of Ankama Asia Pte Ltd whose sole asset is a business in Manila ("the Manila studio") which currently provides services to support the operations of the games of Ankama SAS ("Ankama"), including titles such as Dofus, Wakfu and Tactile Wars.

The acquisition is an outsourcing arrangement with Ankama whereby the Live Operations team in the Philippines is transferred to Keywords. Along with the benefit of a four year agreement for the continued provision of those services to Ankama, Keywords plans to significantly increase the scale of the Manila Studio to service new and existing clients of Keywords. With a current workforce of 23 people, the Manila Studio strengthens Keywords Customer Support operations and extends the range of services on offer to our clients to support their online and mobile games after launch. In addition, the studio can provide services for Promotions Management, Fraud Management, Customer Support, Quality Assurance and Bot Hunting (in which automated programs that have been introduced into the game against the rules are sought out and neutralised).

Andrew Day, Chief Executive of Keywords, commented:

"This mutually beneficial outsourcing arrangement with one of our established clients enables Ankama to benefit from the support of a trusted and efficient partner, while it gives Keywords a platform from which it can grow its presence in Asia with the benefit of the certainty of a four year contract.

"The Philippines is a well established territory for the provision of competitively priced support services, and the strong standard of English and high calibre service culture makes Manila an attractive location from which to continue to grow our English language customer and live operations support services offering."

Benoît Coupez, Head of Videogames at Ankama, commented:

"This arrangement is part of our overall strategy to refocus on our core activities. Delivering high quality games that balance originality, creativity and technology while always keeping our players' experience in mind. This outsourcing arrangement with Keywords will help us increase the quality of our user experience, both in-game and in terms of support."

For further information, please contact:

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 facilities in Dublin, Rio de Janeiro, Montreal, Portland, Mexico City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Tokyo, Singapore, New Delhi, Pune, Rome, Milan, Barcelona, Madrid, Manila and London, it provides integrated art creation, localisation, testing, audio and customer care services across 50 languages and 14 games platforms to a blue chip client base in more than 15 countries. It has a strong market position, providing services to 19 of the top 25 most prominent games companies, including Microsoft, Supercell, King, Namco Bandai, Sony, Konami, Electronic Arts, 2K, and Square Enix. Recent titles worked on include Tom Clancy's The Division, Halo 5: Guardians, Batman: Arkham Knight, Street Fighter V, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Clash Royale, Mobile Strike. Keywords is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (KWS.L). 

About Ankama (www.ankama-group.com)

Ankama is an independent French group and a leader in the entertainment industry that builds its development around a trans-media strategy: online games, animation, publishing, press, music, merchandise, toys, games for consoles and mobile devices. Ankama develops its universes through all these media to create a complete and immersive narrative experience.