Merge Mansion developer Metacore to acquire Piñata

Helsinki-based mobile games company Metacore announced today it will acquire animation studio Piñata to create a “better future of mobile game storytelling”.

Piñata is an animation and illustration studio and its work is “characterized by inspired pre-production work and we apply a mix of skills and techniques ranging from traditional drawing and 2D animation to fully fledged 3D photorealism.”

Helsinki-based Piñata, known for its prior contributions to prominent marketing campaigns such as Metacore’s Merge Mansion and Supercell’s Clash of Clans, is set to be fully acquired by Metacore. This partnership comes after a close collaboration dating back to the launch of Merge Mansion in 2020, as Metacore will take ownership of 100% of the company’s shares.

“Piñata brings us not only animation skills and capabilities, but creative storytelling both for our games and marketing. Together our goal is to create a better future of mobile game storytelling and position Metacore as a game studio creating great entertainment,” said Mika Tammenkoski, CEO and co-founder of Metascore, in a blog post announcing the acquisition. 

“Piñata’s experience of working with Merge Mansion as well as some of the most popular mobile games and entertainment brands in the world makes them an extremely strong addition to our team,” he added. 

Earlier this year, Metacore announced the acquisition of Supercell’s village-building game Everdale, which was discontinued on October 31, 2022. 

“The Piñata acquisition is the first of its kind for Metacore. Although it isn’t something we’ve been planning for years, looking back, we couldn’t imagine things going any other way,” said Tammenkoski.