Accenture Interactive acquires 'Game of Thrones' visual effects team Mackevision

Global consulting firm Accenture has revealed that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Mackevision. The international producer of 3D-enabled and immersive product content, perhaps best known for its work with ‘Game of Thrones’, will join Accenture’s expanding Interactive agency.

Mackevision, the award-winning visual effects team of HBO hit series ‘Game of Thrones,’ is set to break new ground as part of Accenture Interactive’s content practice, as it adds the capacity 3D visualisation, animation and visual effects capabilities to the rapidly growing agency. The group earned global acclaim for its work on HBO’s current flagship series, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Visual Effects along the way. Other high-profile clients include automotive industry players Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, among others, as Mackevision has achieved its most notable success in the automotive industry, where CGI-based and ‘digital twin’ visualisation has experienced some of its earliest adoption.

Since its founding in 1994, Mackevision has built a team of more than 500 employees spread across is headquarters in Stuttgart, as well as fellow German offices in Munich and Hamburg, as well as in the United States, United Kingdom, China, South Korea and Japan. The company’s high-end creative and visual effects capability is especially relevant in the growing field of extended reality, where life-like models and environments are considered critical to creating fully-immersive experiences.

Accenture has spent the last 12 months pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy for its digital and design agency Accenture Interactive, and the deal for Mackevision follows hot on the heels of its latest addition – that of Cannes Lions winning agency Rothco. Both acquisitions have strengthened Accenture’s visualisation capacities, with Mackevision bringing state-of-the-art capabilities to the agency’s digital services portfolio. The addition of the 500 professionals with the group will further bolster Accenture’s digital arm, and its ability to create compelling, next-generation customer experiences and industrial, extended reality applications. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, while financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Virtual Reality (VR) services have already burgeoned into a $1 billion industry, and Accenture hold an early leadership position in the Augmented Reality (AR) and VR services markets, having delivered consumer and enterprise experiences for clients such as BMW (a shared client of Mackevision) and Jeep in recent years, as well as having launched an Extended Reality (XR) practice. The acquisition of Mackevision will help Accenture significantly accelerate its ability to envision, create and operate XR solutions at scale for its clients and help drive the future of the XR market.

Jamie Posnanski, global content practice lead, Accenture Interactive, said of the acquisition, “This is truly a one-of-a-kind opportunity for us. Mackevision has a deep roster of highly-relevant creative and technical talent in emergent capabilities, and operates with mature offerings on a global scale. It’s rare to find this combination in the market.”

Brian Whipple, head of Accenture Interactive, added, “Mackevision’s capabilities will add a whole new dimension of content innovation to our portfolio of services. The ‘digital twin’ concept has massive implications not only from a scaled media production and marketing standpoint, but also for our broader vision of helping clients render the most compelling experiences possible.”

“With our more than 20 years’ experience in 3D visualisation, our visionary technology and our efficient Single-Source Publishing (SSP) approach, we create relevant, inspiring product and brand experiences with lasting impact,” said Mackevision CEO Armin Pohl. “ We have moved from being a content provider to providing relevant end-to-end solutions for our clients, and we’re looking forward to collaborating on creating meaningful client experiences on a global scale under Accenture Interactive.”