U.K. company buys local simulation firm

An art and technical services company that has worked on blockbuster video game franchises such as Call of Duty, Uncharted and Battlefield has bought an Orlando tech firm.

London-based Keywords Studios announced in a press release Wednesday that it had acquired GameSim, which has offices at the University of Central Florida’s Research Park, for $4.76 million in cash and stock options.

GameSim started in 2008 and has built virtual environments and provided software engineering for the U.S. Army, NASA, Electronic Arts and others.

The company employs more than 30 people in Orlando and specializes in building simulated environments for the military and urban planners, the release said.

The Florida High Tech Corridor has estimated that modeling and simulation in Florida has grown to become a $5 billion industry here.

GameSim CEO Andrew Tosh, whose team will remain with the company, is an Electronic Arts veteran who started the company in 2008.

“It is exciting for GameSim to enter a new chapter as Keywords' first engineering studio,” Tosh said in the release.

GameSim has worked with large game firms like EA, Square Enix and Ubisoft. Orlando-based Missiles and Fire Control facility. Lockheed did not share a specific dollar value on the latest work.

They will be built for the Kuwait Air Force on behalf of the U.S. Air Force.

“Sniper ATP provides critical targeting and non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support in challenging threat environments,” said Paul Lemmo, a vice president at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “By integrating Sniper ATP on its Hornet aircraft, the Kuwait Air Force continues expanding operational capabilities across its fighter fleet.”

Lemmo oversees the fire control and special operations division of Lockheed’s Orlando facility. Lockheed Martin employs about 7,000 in Central Florida.

New England Patriots quarterback and five-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady will be on the cover of Madden NFL 18, the latest installment of one of Electronic Arts’ most popular titles.

The game is built in EA’s Maitland office, which employs about 700 people.

Since the franchise first started placing athletes on the game’s cover in 2001 — Tennessee Titans’ running back Eddie George was the first — some have noticed that some cover athletes don’t do so well the following season.

“I’m not one to believe in curses, so I’m ready to take the challenge head on like always!” Brady said in a release. “It doesn’t stand a chance!”

The game will launch Aug. 25 on all platforms.