On its release day, Somerville developer Jumpship has already been acquired

Thunderful has announced that it will be acquiring Jumpship, the developer responsible for the sci-fi survival story Somerville.

The Swedish group, which consists of a number of companies that develop, publish and invest in games, says the deal is expected to be completed today for an undisclosed fee.

Today also marks the release of Somerville, which is Jumpship’s debut title.

As part of the announcement, Thunderful stated that Jumpship will “retain creative autonomy as it continues to create top-class story-driven narrative games”.

Jumpship was founded in 2017 when Playdead co-founder Dino Patti, who had previously produced Limbo and Inside, teamed up with movie animator Chris Olsen to work on Somerville.

Patti will remain at Jumpship following the acquisition, and will also take on a new role as a strategic advisor for Thunderful Games.

In a statement, Thunderful Games’ chief gaming officer Agostino Simonetta said: “The level of intrigue that Jumpship’s managed to generate for its debut title shows you that this is a team with a deep artistic vision.

“Adding to our already diverse and accomplished roster of talent under the Thunderful Studios’ umbrella is an important part of our strategy to build strong internal IPs. We look forward to supporting the team at Jumpship to harness their skill for building impactful narrative-driven experiences as they continue to create fantastic titles within the Thunderful family.”

Simonetta joined Thunderful in July 2021, after working as director of global partnership management for ID@Xbox.

Further reading

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Review: Somerville is a brief but beautiful sci-fi survival story

A handful of awkward puzzles isn't enough to detract from this four-hour wonder

VGC’s Somerville review called the game “a brief but beautiful sci-fi survival story”.

“Somerville is a wonderful sci-fi journey whose occasionally frustating puzzles don’t ruin what’s otherwise a strikingly atmospheric adventure,” we wrote. “Its four-hour runtime makes it perfect for a single, memorable evening.”