Sega acquires Two Point Studios Developer of Two Point Hospital becomes the first acquisition stemming from the publisher's Searchlight initiative

Brendan Sinclair North American Editor Thursday 9th May 2019 Share this article Share

Companies in this article Sega Two Point Studios

Two Point Studios has joined the Sega family. Sega Europe today announced that it has acquired the Farnham-based developer of Two Point Hospital.

Two Point Hospital launched last August to impressive sales and positive reviews. It was the debut title from Two Point, which was founded in 2016 by Mark Webley, Gary Carr, and Ben Hymers.

The light-hearted hospital simulation was familiar ground for Webley and Carr, who viewed the game as a spiritual successor to Theme Hospital, a title they worked on together at Bullfrog more than 20 years ago. It was intended to be the first in a franchise of simulation games sharing a similar tone and set in the fictitious Two Point County.

"It's a landmark step for Two Point Studios and we're thrilled to be joining the Sega family," Webley said. "We're looking forward to executing the next phase of our plans as we continue to evolve Two Point County. It's a hugely exciting time to be a part of Two Point and we are here today thanks to the hard work, passion and dedication of our small, but amazingly talented team here in Farnham and the incredible fans that have supported us throughout and guided our continued development of Two Point Hospital."

The Two Point Studios acquisition is the first such pick-up to stem directly from Sega Europe's Searchlight program, an internal initiative intended to identify new talent and IP opportunities for the publisher. Sega has been involved with Two Point since it signed a publishing deal for Two Point Hospital in 2017.

"We're delighted to welcome Two Point Studios officially in to the Sega family," said Sega Europe president and COO Gary Dale. "As a relatively new, British-based developer with a global hit already under their belts, we knew we had to move quickly on this deal because they are an extremely attractive investment proposition with a great deal of talent. The Searchlight team at Sega Europe have done a fantastic job integrating the studio over the past two years and the studio have gone on to produce a fantastic title with clear franchise potential."

Sega says Two Point has multiple unannounced titles in the works that it will reveal more about in the coming months.