Side is expanding its art business in China. The games services provider acquired Chengdu-based Roboto Entertainment on Thursday and named the studio’s founder, Andrea Cordella, its global head of art.
The merger is launching Side Chengdu, a new studio specializing in environment and world-building art, according to a press announcement. Cordella will lead Side’s global art division and serve as head of the studio, while the rest of his team will work with Side Shanghai and Side’s teams across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Roboto’s Chengdu-based team has worked on AAA and AA releases across console and mobile games, according to the announcement, which did not name specific titles.
Deborah Kirkham, Side’s chief executive officer, described the acquisition as “a double-down on a winning regional strategy.” She explained that China has long been one of the most important markets for the industry and that Side’s team there is eager for more work and plans to grow.
Side also pointed to the size of the Chinese market to explain their decision to make this move. Side said it expects the market to grow 4% in 2026 and reach $59.8 billion by 2030, even as the global games industry has reported a slowdown in recent years. The press announcement also shared that China has some of the highest player engagement rates, esports engagement, player hours, and player spend, which makes it attractive to developers.
Cordella said he joined this project because Side’s values matched those of his original team, which he said strives for excellence and holds creativity close. He noted that games are unique among art forms because the consumer plays “an equal role to the creator.” Cordella stated that he and his team will aspire to continue delivering that same creativity approach to every brief, while collaborating with teams around the world and supporting developers on a diverse array of projects.
Side already offers its full suite of services to China-based developers, including player support, quality assurance, localization, localization QA, datasets, co-development, art, and audio. Its QA offering recently expanded through a partnership with the AI QA platform Modl.ai, announced at Gamescom earlier this year. Side said the new studio, combined with Cordella’s environment art expertise, will allow it to offer developers in China and beyond more than it ever could prior to this acquisition.
Side was founded in 2009 and has Japanese roots. It has more than 15 studios in over a dozen countries across the Americas, Europe and Asia, according to the company. Kirkham, Cordella and Teppei Tachibana, Side’s chairman and the president and CEO of Pole To Win Holdings, officially announced Side Chengdu, according to a photo caption provided with the announcement.
More information about Side is available at side.inc.