Vivendi Games has acquired Wanako Games, based in Santiago, Chile. Wanako is the largest game development studio in Latin America.

Vivendi says the acquisition underscores the commitment by its Sierra Online division to enhance its internal product development capabilities in the fast growing console download online games space. Sierra Online will bring to life several of Wanako’s original concepts and will retain and grow its team of developers.

Sierra Online teamed up with Wanako Games on the development of the Xbox Live Arcade title Assault Heroes, released in December 2006. Next, Wanako Games will bring its artistic expertise to the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade game, 3-D Ultra Minigolf Adventures.

“Wanako exudes the commitment to quality and a passion for developing great games that we ourselves strongly believe in,” said Ed Zobrist, president, Sierra Online. “The studio has an extensive offering of valuable tools and technologies that can be leveraged across all of Sierra Online’s development studios. The combination of Wanako’s development experience, creativity and technical capabilities will contribute greatly to our presence as a leading publisher of console download online games.”

Wanako is currently developing a number of other unannounced Sierra Online titles.