Keywords Studios has announced the creation of FreeAnimal, an integrated organization that brings together seven of its previously separate creative agencies under a single umbrella. The purpose of this consolidation is to provide developers, publishers, and brand owners with one streamlined point of contact for all of their creative and marketing needs.
The new entity is comprised of the boutique creative agencies Ichi, KWM, Fire Without Smoke, and Gnet, as well as the media‑production studios TrailerFarm, Maverick, and Big Farmer. These teams are spread across a network of locations that includes Los Angeles, London, Brighton, Montreal, and Quebec City, giving FreeAnimal a truly global footprint.
Each of the seven firms posted coordinated announcements on LinkedIn, framing the restructuring as the beginning of a new chapter in which they will operate as a single, cohesive creative agency. Existing contracts with current clients will remain unchanged, but future work will be sourced from the combined talent pool and capabilities of the newly formed FreeAnimal organization.
"Collectively, we work with the world's most ambitious gaming brands," said John Rosenberg, Global Head of FreeAnimal. "By fusing seven agencies' perspectives, geographies, and experiences from across the games industry, we've created a wildly effective creative organisation that combines boutique strike teams with global scale." Rosenberg added that the company has coined a guiding principle called "The Right Team for Every Game," which means assembling the appropriate specialists at the appropriate moment to address each client's unique challenge. This philosophy underlines the agency's commitment to flexibility, expertise, and precision in delivering marketing, branding, and media solutions.
Keywords Studios itself was founded in 1998 as an outsourcing specialist. The company began an aggressive acquisition strategy in 2014, starting with the voice‑production house Liquid Violet. Since that first purchase, Keywords has added roughly 70 companies to its portfolio, broadening its service offering to encompass audio production, artistic creation, localisation, quality assurance, functional testing, engineering, player support, trailer production, marketing, and data analytics.
The most recent additions to the Keywords family include Certain Affinity, a co‑developer on the Halo franchise, and Wushu Studios, a work‑for‑hire studio, both of which were acquired in 2024. Earlier in the year, Keywords also merged two of its public‑relations agencies—Fortyseven Communications and Indigo Pearl—following the opening of a new Fortyseven office in London. The formation of FreeAnimal reflects Keywords Studios' broader strategy of consolidating complementary capabilities to deliver end‑to‑end solutions for the gaming ecosystem. By uniting creative, production, and media teams under one brand, the company aims to reduce friction for clients, accelerate project timelines, and foster cross‑disciplinary collaboration that can lead to more innovative campaigns.
From a practical standpoint, the integration means that a game developer looking to launch a new title can now approach a single account manager at FreeAnimal and receive a coordinated suite of services: concept art, cinematic trailers, localized marketing assets, community outreach, and post‑launch support. The agency's geographic spread ensures that cultural nuances are respected, while the shared knowledge base across the seven original firms allows for best‑practice sharing and rapid problem‑solving.
Industry observers have noted that this move positions Keywords Studios as not just a service provider but as a strategic partner capable of shaping the narrative and visual identity of major gaming releases. The "Right Team for Every Game" mantra suggests a modular approach, where specialized squads—whether focused on narrative storytelling, visual effects, or data‑driven audience targeting—can be assembled on demand. In addition to serving traditional gaming clients, FreeAnimal's broadened capabilities open doors to collaborations with non‑gaming brands seeking to tap into the interactive entertainment market. By leveraging the agency's expertise in immersive storytelling and high‑impact visual production, advertisers can craft campaigns that resonate with gamers and broader audiences alike.
Overall, the launch of FreeAnimal represents a significant evolution in Keywords Studios' portfolio, turning a collection of niche agencies into a unified, globally distributed creative powerhouse. The company expects that this consolidation will not only streamline operations for existing partners but also attract new business by offering a one‑stop shop for all creative and marketing needs in the rapidly expanding video‑game industry.