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Another huge acquisition for the games industry today as Embracer Group have agreed to purchase Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, and Square Enix Montréal amongst others.

This is honestly massive it means they now control the likes of Tomb Raider, Thief, Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain and "more than 50 back-catalogue games" from Square Enix. With this deal they add another ~1,000 employees to their list around the world for 300 million USD.

Of course, this is all pending the usual approvals process from regulators. It's not quite a done deal but it will likely go through just fine like their previous acquisitions have.

Embracer Group are truly huge now controlling and owning various publishers and developers directly including the likes of Coffee Stain, Gearbox, Ghost Ship Games, Deep Silver, Flying Wild Hog, Warhorse Studios, Koch Media, Asmodee, Saber Interactive, Aspyr Media, THQ Nordic and the list just keeps on going.

From the Press Release:

”We are thrilled to welcome these studios into the Embracer Group. We recognize the fantastic IP, world class creative talent, and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and again over the past decades. It has been a great pleasure meeting the leadership teams and discussing future plans for how they can realize their ambitions and become a great part of Embracer,” says Lars Wingefors, Co-founder and Group CEO, Embracer Group.

”Embracer is the best kept secret in gaming: a massive, decentralized collection of entrepreneurs whom we are thrilled to become a part of today. It is the perfect fit for our ambitions: make high-quality games, with great people, sustainably, and grow our existing franchises to their best versions ever. Embracer allows us to forge new partnerships across all media to maximize our franchises’ potential and live our dreams of making extraordinary entertainment,” says Phil Rogers, Square Enix America and Europe CEO.

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24 comments
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dpanter May 2, 2022
Embracer is the best kept secret in gaming
It isn't really though.

I'm a bit concerned what the endgame is for Embracer Group.
Liam Dawe May 2, 2022
Embracer is the best kept secret in gaming
It isn't really though.

I'm a bit concerned what the endgame is for Embracer Group.
The Embracer Store.

All of their games go exclusive.

Oh god, please no.
Eike May 2, 2022
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I'm a bit concerned what the endgame is for Embracer Group.

Extinguisher Group


Last edited by Eike on 2 May 2022 at 1:58 pm UTC
I just don't like it...

I know you are joking, but maybe indeed is what they are planing to do.
slaapliedje May 2, 2022
At least some of those that they have bought have supported Linux gaming with native builds. They also seem to have taken some dead IP and revitalized them.
pete910 May 2, 2022
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Just a FYI THQ Nordic AB became Embracer Group
gaboversta May 2, 2022
Well, this is ... interesting.
I personally would be thankful for coverage of Embracers future plans, when they ar€ made public, hope the team has that on their radar.

Also could this mean that we'll get a new Deus Ex?
Purple Library Guy May 2, 2022
I'm a bit concerned what the endgame is for Embracer Group.

Extinguisher Group
Yeah, but that'll be a while. Wonder what will happen during the shift to Extender Group?
minfaer May 2, 2022
I'm a bit concerned what the endgame is for Embracer Group.

Extinguisher Group
Yeah, but that'll be a while. Wonder what will happen during the shift to Extender Group?

My guess is extending the franchises into new genres: Deus Ex: Mankind Presided will be a 4X where you lead mankind into space (and Human Prostitution that kind of graphic novel you hide on your steam profile), Thief will become a management sim where you can steal the labor of the working class, and Rave of the Tomb Raider is going to be your new favorite dancing game!

Or crossovers: Thief: deadly shadows of the Tomb Raider has definitely already appeared on a whiteboard in a meeting somewhere.


Last edited by minfaer on 2 May 2022 at 5:43 pm UTC
Schattenspiegel May 2, 2022
Well, the name is creepy, at least. Kind of 'screen filling Cortana messages during the original Win10 install'-level, I'd say. We'll see.
BTW Liam do we really need citations of empty marketing speech under these articles? Unless they actually say something important there is plenty of hot air out there already and we DO have to think of the climate change, mind you. ;-)
Hope for a new Deus Ex, maybe?
No?

OK, moving on...
F.Ultra May 2, 2022
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I think you people are a bit to negative here. Fully understandable with the experience from EA and other big firms but Embracer Group, at least so far, looks to be genuinely interested in producing games and having the studios run independently.

In their Annual Reports each studio is presented individually with a list of what games they currently sell and what they are working on for the future, zero mentioning of "consolidation goals" or "business optimization". I also note that they buy studios by way of share issues so each studio becomes shareholders of Embrace Group.

They are also no big venture capital owners of the company, 61.12% of the votes are owned by 3 people Lars Wingefors from Nordic Games (that became THQ Nordic that become Embracer) and Matthew Karch and Andrey Iones that founded Saber Interactive.

https://embracer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Embracer-Annual-Report-and-Sustainability-Report-2021.pdf

In my belief, a key factor to our success is that entre-
preneurs who become part of Embracer maintain their
creative and operative freedom while they can go faster
and boost their growth by being docked into our growing
eco-system and available resources. We are steadily
seeing more cooperation between the independent oper-
ating groups – for the simple reason that it makes sense
for everyone. We hope that access to the Embracer eco
system will be an even more decisive reason when gam-
ing entrepreneurs chose to become part of the Embracer
family in the future.
Lars Wingefors
Co-founder & CEO


Last edited by F.Ultra on 2 May 2022 at 9:14 pm UTC
wytrabbit May 2, 2022
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It isn't really though.

They're never mentioned when speaking about their subsidiaries games', and they have A LOT of subsidiaries.... https://i.redd.it/d6gqrojs29f81.png (source: https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/shzbon/video_game_companies_and_their_subsidiaries/)
lukas333 May 2, 2022
Seems cheap
slaapliedje May 2, 2022
I think you people are a bit to negative here. Fully understandable with the experience from EA and other big firms but Embracer Group, at least so far, looks to be genuinely interested in producing games and having the studios run independently.

In their Annual Reports each studio is presented individually with a list of what games they currently sell and what they are working on for the future, zero mentioning of "consolidation goals" or "business optimization". I also note that they buy studios by way of share issues so each studio becomes shareholders of Embrace Group.

They are also no big venture capital owners of the company, 61.12% of the votes are owned by 3 people Lars Wingefors from Nordic Games (that became THQ Nordic that become Embracer) and Matthew Karch and Andrey Iones that founded Saber Interactive.

https://embracer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Embracer-Annual-Report-and-Sustainability-Report-2021.pdf

In my belief, a key factor to our success is that entre-
preneurs who become part of Embracer maintain their
creative and operative freedom while they can go faster
and boost their growth by being docked into our growing
eco-system and available resources. We are steadily
seeing more cooperation between the independent oper-
ating groups – for the simple reason that it makes sense
for everyone. We hope that access to the Embracer eco
system will be an even more decisive reason when gam-
ing entrepreneurs chose to become part of the Embracer
family in the future.
Lars Wingefors
Co-founder & CEO
Dude's name is Lars, and I have never met a Lars that I didn't like!
Beamboom May 3, 2022
Hope for a new Deus Ex, maybe?

Well, I'd say the chances for that happening improved significantly now.

Hopefully!
Kristian May 3, 2022
Does anybody know if this includes the Daikatana IP?
Ehvis May 3, 2022
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Although I find myself naturally opposed to companies being swallowed up by these giants, I don't really have any negative response to Embracer. For now they just seem to let their companies make games without much interference. Considering where studios were before, it may actually be an improvement. So, I'll be cautiously optimistic for now.
officernice May 3, 2022
Glad to see Deus Ex out of the hands of Square Enix. Although, I don't have high hopes for its future. Fashion Revolution was ok, never bothered with the second. The first one will always be a masterpiece.
pete910 May 3, 2022
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
I think you people are a bit to negative here. Fully understandable with the experience from EA and other big firms but Embracer Group, at least so far, looks to be genuinely interested in producing games and having the studios run independently.

In their Annual Reports each studio is presented individually with a list of what games they currently sell and what they are working on for the future, zero mentioning of "consolidation goals" or "business optimization". I also note that they buy studios by way of share issues so each studio becomes shareholders of Embrace Group.

They are also no big venture capital owners of the company, 61.12% of the votes are owned by 3 people Lars Wingefors from Nordic Games (that became THQ Nordic that become Embracer) and Matthew Karch and Andrey Iones that founded Saber Interactive.

https://embracer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Embracer-Annual-Report-and-Sustainability-Report-2021.pdf

In my belief, a key factor to our success is that entre-
preneurs who become part of Embracer maintain their
creative and operative freedom while they can go faster
and boost their growth by being docked into our growing
eco-system and available resources. We are steadily
seeing more cooperation between the independent oper-
ating groups – for the simple reason that it makes sense
for everyone. We hope that access to the Embracer eco
system will be an even more decisive reason when gam-
ing entrepreneurs chose to become part of the Embracer
family in the future.
Lars Wingefors
Co-founder & CEO
Dude's name is Lars, and I have never met a Lars that I didn't like!

Metallica fan I bet !


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