Rovio Entertainment, creator of the global phenomenon Angry Birds, announced today the acquisition of Futuremark Games Studio, the gaming arm of benchmarking software developer Futuremark.

"They are an incredibly talented and experienced team, and we are thrilled to have them on board," said Mikael Hed, Rovio Entertainment's CEO. "Rovio's success is founded on the excellence of our team, and Futuremark Games Studio is going to be a superb addition."

"I am proud to see the potential of our talented games team recognized by Rovio," said Jukka Mäkinen, Futuremark CEO. "Futuremark will now focus on supporting gamers and industry with 3DMark, our professional grade benchmark which, in a new version to be released later this year, will allow unified gaming performance comparison across operating systems and form factors for the first time."

Futuremark Games Studio announced today that its cult hit, 1950s sci-fi inspired tower defense game Unstoppable Gorg will be Steam's Daily Deal on Thursday March 15 selling for just $4.99 for one day only.

Unstoppable Gorg is a revolutionary tower defense game that challenges you to defend the solar system from fearsome aliens by sending satellites into orbit. Unlike tower-based defense games, in Unstoppable Gorg you can move your satellites by rotating the orbits that surround planets, moons and space stations.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash and computer technology, as a part of their year long 25 year anniversary celebration, today announced an exclusive software licensing and bundling agreement with Futuremark, granting rights to manufacture and market products bundled with the multiplayer first-person shooter, Shattered Horizon.

Patriot is now offering select capacities of the popular Xporter USB Flash Drive products bundled with the zero gravity first-person shooter, Shattered Horizon. The Shattered Horizon bundle will include a Steam download code enabling users to easily download and install the game and then jump into the action. The first Shattered Horizon bundles will be 8GB and 16GB USB Flash Drives easily recognized by their unique packaging featuring design elements from the Shattered Horizon game. Additional Patriot products will be bundled with Shattered Horizon and introduced at a later time.

NVIDIA and Futuremark's same studio will join their latest technologies in Shattered Horizon, the upcoming first-person shooter game which was officially unveiled last week at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany. Shattered Horizon, a multiplayer first-person shooter developed by Futuremark Games Studio, will fully utilize NVIDIA's PhysX technology it was announced today. This leads us to believe that when released the game will feature a lot of goodies like totally destructive space environment, stunning lighting effects and zero gravity physics. "We are excited to be working with Futuremark on their first original game," said Roy Taylor, NVIDIA vice president of content relations. "By utilizing the advanced features that NVIDIA PhysX technology provides, Shattered Horizon will deliver a compelling, visual, and highly interactive experience to gamers." For more information on Shattered Horizon, please visit this page, a 130MB HD .wmv game trailer is also available for download here.

Futuremark Games Studio today revealed Shattered Horizon, a new game where players fight to survive in the aftermath of a catastrophic Moon mining accident that throws billions of tons of rocky debris into near-Earth space. In this multiplayer first-person shooter for PC teams of players experience realistic zero gravity combat surrounded by the broken remains of orbital infrastructure and the millions of asteroids now encircling the Earth.

Futuremark is proud to announce the formation of a group named the Futuremark Games Studio. The Games Studio will be Futuremark's first try in the game publishing business, as the division plans to work and develop "world class games" awaiting some good results in future. "Futuremark Games Studio is committed to developing original IP games with the highest quality game play combined with our established track record of creating blow-your-socks-off visuals", said Tero Sarkkinen, CEO of Futuremark Corporation. "For years, our fans have been asking us when will we start making games. Very soon they are going to get it - and then some!" Futuremark Games Studio personnel will be attending GDC 2008 in San Francisco where they can be found at the Nordic Games Studios Pavilion.