Keywords Studios Combines Multiple Marketing Businesses Into Global Creative Agency FreeAnimal

Keywords Studios has launched FreeAnimal, a new global creative agency uniting seven of its existing creative and media production firms to serve as a single point of contact for developers, publishers, and brands. The newly formed organisation combines creative agencies Ichi, KWM, Fire Without Smoke, and Gnet, alongside media production studios TrailerFarm, Maverick, and Big Farmer. Together, the network spans multiple locations including Los Angeles, London, Brighton, Montreal, and Quebec City.

Ahead of the official announcement, all seven firms shared LinkedIn posts indicating the transition and marking the beginning of their operation as a unified creative agency. According to the company, existing clients will retain their current agency leads while gaining access to a broader global network of specialists. Contracts currently in place will remain intact, and future projects will draw from the combined capabilities of the entire FreeAnimal organization.

John Rosenberg, global head of FreeAnimal, noted that the organization works with ambitious gaming brands across the industry. By fusing the perspectives, geographic locations, and experiences of the seven constituent agencies, the group aims to offer boutique strike teams backed by global scale. The agency describes its operational philosophy as bringing together the appropriate specialists at the right time to tackle specific challenges for every client.

Founded in 1998, Keywords Studios has steadily expanded its service offerings through corporate acquisitions beginning in 2014 with voice production studio Liquid Violet. Since that time, Keywords has acquired approximately 70 companies to scale its operations across fields such as audio, art, localization, quality assurance, engineering, player support, marketing, trailer production, and data analysis. Recent acquisitions include work-for-hire studio Wushu Studios and Halo co-developer Certain Affinity in 2024. Additionally, Keywords combined two of its public relations firms, Fortyseven Communications and Indigo Pearl, earlier in the year following the opening of a new London office by Fortyseven.