Keywords Studios, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, has entered into an agreement to acquire gnet, a Hollywood-based creative marketing agency serving the video games and entertainment industries. Keywords Studios is continuing to expand its global technical services platform with the acquisition, upping the marketing studios under the company’s banner to seven in addition to its offerings across game development, game testing, art services, localization, player support and audio services.

Founded in 2001 and led by John Rosenberg, David Getson and David Moodie, gnet is an award-winning studio, providing creative and strategic marketing services for leading games publishers including Activision, Microsoft, Bethesda and Bungie, as well as for global media and entertainment companies such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and NBC Universal. 

gnet’s talented team of 85 staff--supported by a wide network of local and international experts--has worked on iconic franchises such as Call of Duty, Fallout, World of Warcraft, Gears of War, Cyberpunk 2077, The Punisher, and Daredevil. The agency has established itself as a leader in fan-driven marketing strategies for its gaming and entertainment clients. With an expertise in cultivating communities of fans, gnet has a proven track record for inspiring and feeding the fan journey with meaningful and highly engaging brand experiences. 

Andrew Day, CEO of Keywords Studios, said of the gnet deal, “This represents a significant milestone as we continue to build our Marketing service business to become the first, truly global, video-game specialized marketing services company.

“With its well-established position as a valued partner to some of the biggest names in video games, and from its home in Hollywood, gnet brings the number of Keywords specialist marketing studios to seven. Combined, Keywords’ annual marketing services revenues are now over €35m ($43 million-plus) with more than 180 people employed globally. We look forward to working with the wonderful team at gnet as we continue to grow and invest in this important area of our business.”

Getson added, “We strongly believe that this strategic union will combine the powerful momentum of gnet together with the vast reach and strength of Keywords existing operations. This not only leads to an exciting future for all our employees as part of a rapidly growing and increasingly influential global company, but it also enables gnet to service our clients in a much more comprehensive way than ever before.”

Named “Agency Of The Year” by PromaxGames in both 2018 and 2019, gnet was recently the most-nominated agency in PromaxGames 2020 Awards, earning 19 nominations. It was the agency’s third consecutive year leading the industry in its number of nominations.