The Embracer Group, a planet-swallowing mass of online game publishers that already contains the likes of Gearbox and THQ Nordic, tonight introduced a deal to buy a lot of storied studios and properties from Sq. Enix.
Whereas the acquisition isn’t remaining—that is simply “an settlement to accumulate” them till all the pieces is signed off later within the 12 months—the announcement press launch says that if accredited it will likely be a USD$300 million deal. For the $300 mil, Embracer will pay money for:
- The studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Sq. Enix Montreal (the latter of which can presumably be in for a reputation change), numbering round 1100 workers worldwide.
- The “catalogue of IPs” owned and/or labored on by these studios, together with Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, Thief, Legacy of Kain and “the continued gross sales and operations of the studios’ greater than 50 back-catalogue video games”. Additionally of curiosity: “Crystal Dynamics is actively engaged on a number of AAA tasks, together with the following mainline Tomb Raider sport that may ship next-generation storytelling and gameplay experiences.”
Sq. Enix purchased Eidos (and Crystal Dynamics together with it) in 2009, and whereas initially overseeing a lot of well-received reboots of sequence like Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, later video games in these properties—together with licensed efforts like The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy— their possession grew to become one thing of a meme lately, as irrespective of how excessive their evaluation scores ended up being, or what number of copies they’d promote, Sq. Enix would all the time say the video games had “under-performed”.
Maybe realizing that the primary query most folk would have following a deal like this may be “so what’s occurring with these sequence?”, Embracer’s press launch says:
The acquisition brings a compelling pipeline of latest installments from beloved franchises and unique IPs, together with a brand new Tomb Raider sport. The acquisition builds on Embracer’s mission of making a number one unbiased international gaming and leisure ecosystem. Embracer has been notably impressed by the studios’ wealthy portfolio of unique IP, housing manufacturers with confirmed international potential reminiscent of Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, in addition to demonstrating the power to create AAA video games with massive and rising fan bases. There are compelling alternatives to organically develop the studios to maximise their industrial alternatives.
Which is imprecise, however nonetheless extra eager for followers of one thing like Deus Ex than Sq. Enix’s full silence and neglect lately. The acquisition is “anticipated to be accomplished through the second quarter of Embracer’s monetary 12 months 22/23 (July-September 2022).
Notice that Embracer spent $1.3 billion simply on Gearbox. To get all of this, from the skilled studios to the beloved properties for $1 billion much less appears…like a steal.
So why promote? Sq. Enix’s personal press launch says:
The Transaction will help the Firm in adapting to the modifications underway within the international enterprise atmosphere by establishing a extra environment friendly allocation of assets, which can improve company worth by accelerating development within the Firm’s core companies within the digital leisure area. As well as, the Transaction allows the launch of latest companies by transferring ahead with investments in fields together with blockchain, AI, and the cloud.
Think about having to place in your CV that you just offered Tomb Raider to at the very least partially fund some blockchain shit.
