Earlier this month, Square Enix sold off Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal to Embracer Group for $300 million. This effectively means that Embracer Group will soon own Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Legacy of Kain, among other IPs, and it plans to bolster those games with new sequels, remakes, and other projects. One would think that Square Enix would hold on to those juggernaut IPs for dear life, but as it turns out, the company made this decision because many of these IPs did not perform as well as it had hoped.
Apparently, Square Enix will take advantage of this development to invest more in blockchain games and the cloud, because the company clearly has its priorities straight. But while Square Enix continues its race to the bottom, Embracer Group already big plans for its new IPs.
A golden opportunity
Embracer Group brought up the possibility of these new projects in its Q4 financial report. According to the company, it “see[s] a great potential, not only in sequels, but also in remakes, remasters, spinoffs as well as transmedia projects across the Group.” Crystal Dynamics has already begun work on a new Tomb Raider installment that will take advantage of Unreal Engine 5, and Embracer Group undoubtedly looks forward to seeing that project pan out. In regards to the “transmedia projects,” these likely involve film or TV adaptations. As early as January of last year, news came out regarding a Netflix anime series based on Tomb Raider, so Embracer Group can now become involved with that project as well.
One can only wonder what kinds of sequels and remakes Embracer Group has in store for fans of these renowned IPs. There is hope that Embracer Group will make better use of these IPs than Square Enix ever did, but in the end, we will have to wait and see.
