The story
Founded by Ross Symons in 2001.1
The studio was founded in 2001 and was originally named Bull Ant Studios, but renamed as "it was getting mispronounced all around the world because they don't have bull ants", according to Ross Symons. The studio initially worked primarily as a "studio for hire" with publishers such as THQ and Konami before moving towards sports games. Symons has explained this move on the basis that "Sport is renewable. There's always a sequel. There's always another season”.
The studio's first sports game was Rugby League title Rugby League Live, released in 2010, for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The studio has since gone to make further Rugby League games, as well as Australian Rules Football, cricket, lacrosse and tennis titles.
In January 2021, French video game publisher Nacon acquired Big Ant for €35 million. Symons has commented on his ambition "to grow Big Ant Studios into the largest developer of sports entertainment software in the world", and increase staff numbers from 66 (as of April 2022) to 200.
In April 2023, Big Ant opened a second studio in Adelaide.
From Wikipedia’s article on Big Ant Studios, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4