Keywords Studios Plc Regulatory News (KWS)

5 July 2018

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

Launches Keywords Ventures Ltd ("KWV") with Initial Investment in an Automated Test Solution for Compliance with the Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Keywords Studios, the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, today announces that it has established Keywords Ventures which will make modest investments in innovative technologies and services that will benefit its clients, whilst accelerating the success of investee companies through access to its global platform and relationships.

Incorporated in the UK, KWV will have a remit to identify and support innovative new ventures, complementary to those of Keywords and where the Group believes that its game developer and publisher client base would benefit from improved access to those technologies and services. Investee companies will benefit from both Keywords funding and associated commercial agreements providing access to Keywords global reach, whilst Keywords will benefit from its ability to drive further value from its investments by generating revenues from its client base. An investment committee, formed of senior members of the Keywords executive team, many of whom have started and run their own businesses and have technical backgrounds, will propose investments and commercial arrangements to the Board of Keywords, who will agree funding on a case by case basis before taking what will typically be minority stakes in selected investee companies.

Keywords is also announcing today the first investment being made by Keywords Ventures. KWV will invest up to £300,000, dependent upon development milestones, in Series A funding for a 45% shareholding in a pre-revenue company, AppSecTest Ltd, creator of AS Analyser, a cloud based automatic testing solution for mobile apps, including games. AS Analyser very effectively analyses apps for compliance with the GDPR, producing a detailed report of those aspects of the app that are likely to contravene the regulations. AS Analyser is differentiated by its ability to test products without requiring access to source code, making it an extremely efficient way of establishing possible areas of non-compliance.

Alongside the funding being provided to accelerate the development of AS Analyser, Keywords has entered into an exclusive worldwide licence to commercialise AS Analyser. Keywords will begin client trials of AS Analyser during July with a possible full deployment of the solution in September.

Andrew Day, Chief Executive Officer of Keywords Studios, commented:

"We are excited by the establishment of KWV, which we believe will help bring products, technology and services to market that will be attractive to our clients. Our established relationships with most of the world's leading games companies, and our expanded global presence, provide a strong platform to support investees' growth while adding further value to the relationships we enjoy with our clients.

"Our strategy to consolidate the fragmented market for video games services remains unchanged with KWV being highly complementary to this in bringing additional capabilities to our global services platform. KWV will be making selective and relatively small investments in companies where we can help commercialise complimentary products or services, with our annual investment in KWV unlikely to exceed 5% of our annual spend on acquisitions.

"Our investment in AppSec Test Ltd is intended to help bring AS Analyser to market through our extensive geographic reach across the video games industry and beyond. We believe AppSec Test fits the investment model of KWV particularly well. We look forward to supporting the testing and improvements to its existing Android version of AS Analyser and also the development of its iOS version, as AppSec Test moves towards full commercialisation."

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Notes to Editors

Keywords Studios is an international technical services provider to the global video games industry. Established in 1998, and now with over 42 facilities in 20 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 of approximately 650 clients 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, 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 Mobile Strike. Keywords Studios is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (KWS.L). 

www.keywordsstudios.com