Two game firms merge to form Blade Games

Vyk Games and Digini are announcing today they are merging to form Blade Games, VentureBeat has learned.

Seattle-based Digini makes game development tools for everyone from a teenager in a bedroom to a large game studio. Shanghai-based Vyk Games does outsourcing work for other game publishers and developers. (It handles the animated drudge work, such as making orcs in a Lord of the Rings game). The combined company, Blade Games, based in Bellevue, Wash.,  will provide both tools and outsourcing services.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Digini chief executive Tony Garcia will be CEO of Blade Games, while Vyk Games CEO Tom Sperry will be president. The move is aimed at making the process of game development more efficient. That’s important because blockbuster games can cost tens of millions of dollars to make. The obvious solution of adding more developers often doesn’t work because it makes the enterprise much more complex.

The new company will combine the tools, dubbed Blade 3D and Blade 3D Marketplace, with the creative services of the company’s offices in Shanghai.

The combined services allow a game developer to use a single environment for the whole process of making a game, from the concept through the part where work such as game art is outsourced to the Chinese office. The Blade 3D Marketplace allows companies to put new assets into a game more quickly and efficiently. Blade 3D is sold to outside companies via monthly subscriptions and has component tools for everyone from an artist to a programmer.

Blade3D is available with price points of $14.95 per month for hobbyists and students, $29.95 per month for independent developers, and $99.95 per month for professional developers. The combined company will have about 175 employees. Vyk was founded in 2006, and its investors include CTV and China Seed Ventures. Digini was founded in 2004, and its backers include California Technology Ventures.