Embracer Group has just announced an agreement with Square Enix to acquire several of their western development studios, namely Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal. Furthermore, they would also acquire the rights to a catalogue of over 50 different IPs, including the likes of Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain and Thief.
Co-founder and Group CEO of Embracer Group, Lars Wingefors, mentions in a press release the “fantastic IP, world class creative talent, and track record of excellence” of these studios and their wish to help them “realize their ambitions”. Meanwhile Phil Rogers, CEO of Square Enix America and Europe, mentions Embracer as “the best-kept secret in gaming” and a “perfect fit for [Square Enix’s] ambitions: make high-quality games, with great people, sustainably, and grow our existing franchises to their best versions ever.” They’ve also disclosed that this transaction will enable “the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud”. Said transaction is being made for $300 million and is expected to go through around July-September 2022.
Once this acquisition is complete, Square Enix will have transferred about 1100 employees across three studios and eight global locations, not to mention the IPs mentioned earlier. In an intriguing move, they’ll be letting go of a tremendous portion of their international development efforts. Eidos Montreal had just released Guardians of the Galaxy last year and Crystal Dynamics has recently announced development of a new Tomb Raider game. Given that a back-catalog of IPs are also being sold, it’ll be interesting to see what direction these studios proceed in and what will happen of their future plans.
For those unaware, Embracer Group is a parent company of businesses multiple businesses dipping into PC console, mobile and board games. They are based in Sweden, posses a current catalogue of 850 franchises and manage 119 different game development studios. Needless to say, they hold considerable weight, despite their relative lack of public presence.
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