A unit of Ubi Soft Entertainment, a French video-game publishing giant, has signed a $25-million investment and licensing deal with GameSpy Industries, an Irvine-based entertainment portal. The unit, GameLoft, is the online gaming arm of Ubi Soft and its parent company, Guillemot Corp.
Privately held GameSpy is known for making a series of software applications that allow consumers to find everything from games to music on the Internet. In the deal, which closed last month, GameLoft agreed to invest $7 million to pick up a minority interest in the Orange County company. The deal also includes a three-year, $18-million licensing agreement between the two companies, allowing GameLoft to repackage GameSpy's editorial content in various languages--including French, Spanish and Chinese.
