Pyramid Saimira's Aurona Technologies on sale

Entertainment major Pyramid Saimira, which acquired UK and Hyderabad based, gaming company Aurona Technologies in January last year, is now selling the game development firm.

P S Saminathan, Managing Director, Pyramid Saimira Group said, "We are already in talks with few people in the industry and are on the verge of finalizing a deal. We will make the announcement in the coming 10 - 15 days." He refused to comment on the prospective buyer or whether the due diligence had been done.

Dr. Santosh Pillai, CEO, Aurona, who was recently in Mumbai for the launch of Aurona's first localized game Hanuman- Boy Warrior developed for Sony PS2, said, "Even after this deal, we will continue to focus on console and PC game development. Our plans include setting up a full game development cycle for which we will setup a separate team within our existing facility in Hyderabad. We might also setup a new studio." Pillai added that Aurona will now have two separate divisions focusing on developing original games and servicing jobs, respectively.

When asked about the reason behind the proposed sale, Saminathan said, "We wanted to consolidate our core business which is of film production and distribution as we have our expertise in that area."

Touting Aurona a 'small scale' gaming company in comparison to its film business, Saminathan said, "Gaming is not a viable business in India till the time we scale it up. Until your company becomes big, there is no survival in this country."

Pyramid Saimira also has plans to roll out with a chain of gaming cafes in another 7-8 months. "We have plans to come up with gaming cafes, but we are holding it due to global economic slowdown. We have a complete plan ready and since we operate majorly in southern part of India, we will set it up in close to 60 cities in south India," concluded Saminathan.

Aurona has its presence in UK and Hyderabad with its marketing team and game development team respectively. It develops games for platforms such as Sony Playstation consoles, Xbox, Nintendo DS and PC, amongst others. Apart from Hanuman, Aurona's other recent releases include Dancing with the Stars published by THQ and Yamaha Super Cross, a bike racing game for Nintendo DS.