Milestone (Italian company)
 | |
| Formerly | Graffiti (1994–1996) |
|---|---|
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Antonio Farina |
| Headquarters | , Italy |
Key people | Luisa Bixio (CEO) |
Number of employees | 243[1] (2021) |
| Parent |
|
| Website | milestone |
Milestone S.r.l. is an Italian video game developer based in Milan that focuses on racing games. It was founded by Antonio Farina in 1994, originally under the name Graffiti, before becoming Milestone in 1996. Milestone was part of Leader Group between 2002 and 2011, and in August 2019, the studio was acquired by Koch Media.
History[]
Milestone was founded under the name Graffiti in 1994 by Antonio Farina.[2][3] Under the continued leadership of Farina, Graffiti was re-founded as Milestone in 1996.[4][5] In late 2002, Milestone became part of the Leader Group, a multi-facet video game company.[2][4] Through this transition, Milestone became exclusively affiliated with Leader Group's internal publisher Lago.[4] However, the studio later started co-operating with third-party publishers again as it considered such a move to be in the best interest of all involved parties.[4] Their position as subsidiary also allowed them to grow and develop multiple games for multiple platform simultaneously; by October 2007, the studio had 55 employees.[4] By January 2010, Milestone had 80 employees, making it the largest video game developer in Italy.[6]
In 2011, Milestone was restructured as an independent company, aiming for further growth while remaining self-reliant.[7] Following low earnings of €2.6 million in 2012, Milestone ceased developing games on a work-for-hire basis and began publishing its games by itself.[5][7] As a result of this strategy, the company's profits rose to €28 million by 2017.[7] On 14 August 2019 media company Koch Media entered into an agreement to fully acquire Milestone and all of its intellectual property for €44.9 million paid in cash.[3][5] The acquisition was completed later that day.[8] Prior to this point, Milestone had been wholly owned by its chief executive officer, Luisa Bixio, who continued heading the company following the acquisition.[5] It became a studio for Koch Media's Deep Silver label.[9] At the time, Milestone employed 200 people.[3]
Games developed[]
As Graffiti[]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Super Loopz | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| 1995 | Iron Assault | MS-DOS |
| Screamer | MS-DOS |
As Milestone[]
Cancelled titles[]
| Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|
| FX Racing | GameCube, Windows, PlayStation 2 |
| Lamborghini FX | Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| SBK-07: Superbike World Championship | Windows, Xbox 360 |
| SBK-08: Superbike World Championship | Nintendo DS, Wii |
References[]
- ^ "Embracer Group Annual Report & Sustainability Report 2020 / 2021" (PDF). Embracer Group. 25 August 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Timeline". Milestone.
- ^ a b c Blake, Vikki (14 August 2019). "Koch Media to acquire Milestone and all IPs, including MotoGP and Supercross". MCV.
- ^ a b c d e MCV Staff (9 October 2007). "Milestone". MCV.
- ^ a b c d Romano, Sal (14 August 2019). "THQ Nordic acquires Milestone S.r.l". Gematsu.
- ^ "Intervista a Luisa Bixio – Amministratore Delegato Leader" [Interview with Luisa Bixio – Chief Executive Officer Leader]. (in Italian). 11 January 2010.
- ^ a b c Handrahan, Matthew (26 October 2017). "Milestone races towards its biggest ever year". GamesIndustry.biz.
- ^ Wingefors, Lars (14 August 2019). "THQ Nordic completes the acquisition of Milestone". Cision.
- ^ Wingefors, Lars (27 August 2019). "THQ Nordic Annual Report 2018/19" (PDF). Cision.
External links[]
- 2002 mergers and acquisitions
- 2019 mergers and acquisitions
- Italian companies established in 1994
- Companies based in Milan
- Koch Media
- Video game companies established in 1994
- Video game companies of Italy
- Video game development companies