SkyBox Labs target of cross-border acquisition by NetEase Games

On January 6, 2023, China-based NetEase, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTES) (HKEX: 9999), a leading internet and game services provider, announced that its game division, NetEase Games, had acquired SkyBox Labs Inc., a Canadian-based game studio.

SkyBox Labs will continue to operate independently within NetEase Games under the leadership of its three co-founders Shyang Kong, Derek MacNeil and Steven Silvester, and provide a full range of game development services to current and future partners.

SkyBox Labs, based in British Columbia, is a full-service game development studio which has worked alongside some of the world's top publishers, including Xbox Game Studios, Wizards of the Coast and Electronic Arts. The company has two offices in Burnaby and an office in Victoria.

Gowling WLG advised SkyBox Labs with respect to this transaction, with a team led by Steve Will and that included Melanie Condic, Zafar Jaffer, Simanpreet Panaych and Andrew Miles (corporate/M&A); Ian Macdonald and Elad Gafni (competition); Lesley Kim and Anita Yuk (tax); and Kristen Cruise (employment).