Well, here’s some news that’s come out of left field. Rovio Entertainment, creators of the ultra-popular Angry Birds series, has acquired Futuremark Game Studios, the gaming side-arm of the popular benchmark tool creator Futuremark (not that self-explanatory, I know). In an e-mail sent to us, Futuremark stated:
Finland has a thriving game development scene and talented people are always in demand, which is why I am excited to tell you that Futuremark Games Studio has been acquired by rapidly expanding Finnish developer Rovio Entertainment, creator of Angry Birds. The Shattered Horizon, Hungribles and Unstoppable Gorg IPs will remain with Futuremark. Here is a link to Rovio’s press release about the acquisition:
Here at Futuremark, we will renew our focus on creating great benchmarks and performance measurement software for gamers, home users, small businesses and the IT industry. This year will see a new version of 3DMark that, for the first time, will allow a direct comparison of gaming performance across operating systems and form factors, as well as a new version of PCMark for Windows 8.
For those who love Futuremark’s benchmarks, this is great news, but for those who enjoyed the company’s three games, it looks like there’s no hope of follow-ups in the future. This is arguably a great move to make, however, as Futuremark’s benchmarks will only become more complex as time goes on. Bring on 3DMark 12!