The CD PROJEKT Group has recently acquired a new development studio, The Molasses Flood. The studio is known for the games Drake Hollow and The Flame in the Flood. Post acquisition The Molasses Flood has declared that they are working on an ‘ambitious new title’ that will utilize one of CDPG’s popular intellectual properties.
In a statement directly from the CD PROJEKT Group (CDPG), The Molasses Flood (TMF), which is the studio behind the roguelike survival game, The Flame and the Flood, and the open world sandbox game, Drake Hollow, has now been acquired. The team at TMF was founded by veteran developers from smash hits like BioShock and Halo. Despite the acquisition CDPG intends to keep the autonomy of the studio in tact, meaning that they will not be merged into any other studios.
President and joint CEO of CDPG Adam Kici?ski has this to say about the acquisition:
“We’re always on the lookout for teams who make games with heart. The Molasses Flood share our passion for video game development, they’re experienced, quality-oriented, and have great technological insight. I’m convinced they will bring a lot of talent and determination to the Group.”
-Adam Kici?ski, President and joint CEO, CD PROJEKT Group
Not so coincidentally, The Molasses Floods main page immediately defines itself as a studio that is “committed to creating games with heart”, though this 'heartfelt' portrayal of their team has been a mainstay of their page even when they were an independent studio.
As for upcoming projects, TMF is currently working on a new game that has yet to be announced, but it will utilize one of CD PROJEKT’s intellectual properties. Could we see something within the Cyberpunk 2077 universe or perhaps a new title in the Witcher series? Either way, the upcoming game is described as “ambitious” and the current job postings for their Lead Engine Programmer and Lead Gameplay Programmer, note that experience developing for consoles and shipping a multiplayer game would be “nice to have”.
Additionally, this is not the first acquisition for CDPG this year. Back in March of 2021 CDPG signed an acquisition deal with Digital Scapes Studio, which is now known as CD PROJEKT RED Vancouver. The studio is well known for working on Cyberpunk 2077, Mass Effect, Prototype and many more titles. These latest acquisitions are all part of CDPG’s growing strategy, which the board unveiled earlier this year:
“In order to be able to engage in parallel development of multiple projects we must continually expand our talent pool. This is why we are ramping up recruitment activities. We intend to continue growing organically, while locking in partnerships with proven external partners. We also intend to more actively pursue M&A opportunities, which will help the studio expand – particularly with regard to its technical capabilities.”
- Piotr Nielubowicz, CFO and Board Member of CD PROJEKT.
To that end CDPG is looking to expand their games into an online or multiplayer space, while expanding their IP’s universes in tandem starting in 2022. While CDPG has had some setbacks over the past year, with a massive ransomware attack stealing the code of their long awaited title Cyberpunk 2077 to the board rethinking the games standalone multiplayer mode in favor of eventually transitioning to a fully online mode, we can only assume that the next game headed into development from The Molasses Group will deliver on CDPG’s predefined strategy.
