Microsoft Studios gets social games savvy, buddies up with Arkadium

The studio that now brings you Halo and the Forza Motorsport racing series for the Xbox 360 just got down with the Facebook. Microsoft Studios announced a strategic partnership with Arkadium for the latter to create cross-platform social games to be launched by the former. According to Arkadium, this multi-year partnership is an evolution of the duo's existing relationship.

"We are very excited to be working with Microsoft Studios to develop casual and social cross-platform experiences," Arkadium CEO Kenny Rosenblatt said in a release. "We have been looking to strategically partner with a company that can help catapult our business and accelerate Arkadium's cross platform game development. Microsoft is the perfect partner to help us realize our growth strategy."

However, what's unclear is just how this partnership will work out. Microsoft Studios acts as both a developer and a publisher to its existing game franchises, namely Halo, which is developed by 343 Industries (formerly Bungie). Is that how the studio will interact with New York-based Arkadium, best known for its Mahjongg Dimensions series on Facebook?

"Arkadium has a ten-year track record of developing entertaining and well-architected casual and social games," GM of Connected Experiences for Microsoft Studios Matt Booty said. "Our team is excited to be partnering with a developer that we believe will help us entertain millions of people as we expand our reach to a broader audience."

Well, that doesn't leave with much more answered. Arkadium has partnered with numerous organizations to increase the reach of its social games, most recently The Los Angeles Times and CNN. This, however, seems as if Microsoft Studios will simply provide Arkadium with more resources to create the game they're already making (and perhaps on new platforms?). Your guess is as good as ours, but we've contacted Arkadium for comment.

Why do you think Microsoft Studios has partnered with Arkadium in such a big way? Are you a fan of Arkadium's games, and what do you hope comes of this announcement? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment.