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PTW Announces Business Acquisition of LA-Based Art Powerhouse, 5518 Studios

11.2.2021 17:00:00 EET | Business Wire | Press release

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PTW continues on their mission to be the go-to partner for innovation in the games industry with the business acquisition of premier art studio 5518 Studios. The industry-leading video games and tech services outsourcer announced their business acquisition of Los Angeles-based 5518 Studios; PTW is a long-time industry leader with an established and diverse dossier of top-tier clients and nearly 3 decades of experience in the games industry. PTW’s work spans across all platforms and all genres.

5518’s expertise ranges from high-quality concept & illustration art to character modeling & animation, along with everything in-between; PTW’s expansion ensures a greater range of skills, depth of talent, and overall expertise for their partners across the globe. Today’s announcement is an exciting step forward in PTW’s mission to provide full end-to-end co-development services to partners in the growing global games industry.

“Our mission is to revolutionize the digital entertainment sphere; adding 5518 to our team enables us to be one of the top development studios in the world. We will merge our existing game development brand- Orange Rock Studios- with 5518 under one name; our new brand will be perfectly poised to work alongside top-notch developers and publishers, building the best games & digital experiences around the world,” said Kasturi Rangan, Chief Product Officer of PTW. “When it comes to game development, we will now be a one-stop shop for external partnerships,” Rangan concluded.

PTW will be merging both Orange Rock and 5518 under a new name- 1518 Studios. The new brand will have a much stronger offering encompassing art, end-end game development, live ops, porting, product development, and staff augmentation (across Mobile, PC & Console). Michael Casalino, CEO and Co-founder of 5518 Studios added, “Our values and mission align so well with those of PTW; we each believe in strong relationships built on trust, passion, good communication, and high-quality games services.” 5518 COO and CO-founder Maxim Miheyenko concluded, “We are so excited to join the PTW family of brands.”

PTW CEO Deborah Kirkham concluded, “We are happy to welcome 5518 Studios and our new teams in Los Angeles, St. Petersburg, and Moscow to the PTW family. Expanding our global presence in the games industry is an important step in our mission of providing the best talent and the best technology to our partners around the world. Michael, Maxim, and their teams provide a level of expertise and energy which we can’t wait to bring to our partners.”

About PTW

PTW is a leading games, digital entertainment and interactive media solutions provider with 35 offices in 11 countries worldwide. Our range of services include quality assurance, localization, customer experience, engineering and development services, and audio production services. PTW brings nearly 3 decades of experience and the infrastructure to create customized support for projects and clients of all sizes.

PTW, comprised of global subsidiaries, is a UK-based holding company formed in 2016 under the umbrella of Poletowin Pitcrew Holdings, Inc. which is listed on the 1st Section of Tokyo Stock Exchange as 3657. POLE TO WIN is a registered trademark of Pole To Win Co., Ltd. in Japan and other countries. All rights reserved. For more information, visit https://www.ptw.com/

The PTW group includes SIDE, 1518 Studios, Entalize, The Game Dev Show, and OR Esports.

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Contact information

For queries related to PTW, please email:
Media Contacts:
Kaley Hurst
415-521-8709
Kaley.hurst@ptw.com

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