Bethesda Softworks announced today that it has acquired independent studio Alpha Dog Games, a developer specializing in mobile games for iOS and Android.

Bethesda's Senior Vice President of Development Todd Vaughn wrote in a press release,

We are impressed by the team at Alpha Dog’s commitment to quality and depth of experience in mobile. We’re excited to have them join the Bethesda

family.

Alpha Dog Games was founded in 2012 by Shawn Woods and Jeff Cameron, who each possess over 20 years of experience in game development. Together, their studio developed the mobile titles Monstrocity: Rampage and Wraithborne. Monstrocity is a real-time strategy game that currently boasts a rating of 4.2 on the Google Play Store. Wraithborne, meanwhile, is a "visceral Whack-and-Smash experience in a dark fantasy world" that has attained over 1.5 million players on the App Store. According to Alpha Dog's website,

Each game is unique and requires handcrafted experiences that fit the audience. However, none of this can happen if you don’t first 'find the fun' and give the player genuine value for their time no matter what.

Bethesda is likely looking to bolster the amount of mobile titles it releases. Bethesda's current mobile offerings include ports of DOOM and DOOM II, dungeon crawler The Elder Scrolls: Blades, vault management sim Fallout Shelter, collectible card game The Elder Scrolls: Legends, and...a pinball game. It's a surprisingly diverse portfolio that has so far hit success. TechRaptor's Austin Suther and Rutledge Daugette both found Blades to be a mostly positive experience, and Fallout Shelter boasted over a billion games played after just one month. With that much success so far, it's no surprise that the company would want to double down on the gigantic mobile market.

Quick Take

I'll be amazed if we don't see a Wolfenstein mobile spinoff by 2021. Or a Dishonored card game. [crosses fingers] I'm really hoping for a Dishonored card game.