Arctic7 goes into virtual production after two studio acquisitions

Game development company Arctic7 has announced the acquisition of Narwhal Studios and Star Fort Games. The two acquisitions represent a sizable evolution in Arctic7’s capability – introducing a plethora of experience from some of the leading creatives in both the video game development and virtual production space.

The acquisition of LA-based Narwhal Studios marks Arctic7’s first expansion into virtual production, further advancing their capacity when delivering top-level entertainment and experiences through immersive content. With film and TV virtual production being Narwhal Studios speciality, their acquisition additionally broadens Arctic7’s scope beyond just video games. Similarly, Arctic7 will be expanding its video game development foundations with the acquisition of Ottawa-based Star Fort Games – helping to cement Arctic7’s expertise in the games industry and expanding their reach and studio capabilities to Canada.

With studios based in Austin, Montenegro and now Los Angeles and Ottawa, Arctic7 has continued where they left off in 2022. The company now has more than 100 people across the world, collaborating together to inspire, going above and beyond in delivering exceptional entertainment with heart and depth.

Media production company Narwhal Studios is at the forefront of virtual production and is continuing to innovate in the space. The team has utilised their skill and experience in some of the largest shows and films in the world, such as The Mandalorian, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Black Adam. For Arctic7, the acquisition of Narwhal Studios not only expanded its impact within game development, but now across multiple industries. The acquisition follows the recent appointment of Narwhal founder Felix Jorge as Chief Communications Officer at Arctic7.

Co-founder Felix Jorge of Narwhal Studios comments: “By joining forces with Arctic7, we plan to bring the virtual art department and ICVFX to a wider audience than ever before. We are supercharging the techniques and processes we created, and developing the training programs and virtual production tools necessary to launch the next generation of film, TV, and game productions.”

Welcoming Star Fort Games to the Arctic7 family will also allow the Austin-based company to leverage the independent game studio’s work across multiple platforms, from global mobile titles to blockbuster console games. Their understanding of what makes a game fun, knowledge of games as a service and expertise on what top trends are going to entertain consumers means they excel at making engaging and entertaining games.

Studio head Lindsay Daggit at Star Fort Games comments: “We are thrilled to be joining the Arctic7 studio family and so excited for this next chapter of Star Fort Games. I am most excited about the new opportunities this partnership will provide for our people and our studio as a whole. Combining our strengths with the other Arctic7 studios in a complementary fashion will allow us to achieve new heights together.”

CEO and co-founder of Arctic7 Igor Efremov comments: “Our aim at Arctic7 is to create amazing entertainment experiences for our partners. The acquisition of Narwhal Studios and Star Fort games enables us to further expand our ability to do that. Narwhal’s experience in virtual production – working with the world’s premier intellectual property – represents an exciting step for us, not least given the growing cross media opportunity in gaming. Similarly, Star Fort’s abilities in creating games across platforms, together with games as a service also adds further exciting capabilities for us.’’