If you’re just waking up for the week, you understandably missed some massive news last night. While most of us were sleeping, Embracer Group announced it had reached an agreement with Square Enix on a substantial sale. The group has acquired studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Square Enix Montréal, and a catalog of IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain, and more than 50 back-catalog games from Square Enix. The sale was completed for $300,000,000 and will likely be complete this summer. You can find the announcement tweet below.
What does Embracer Group gain from this sale?
If you don’t know who Embracer Group is, you might remember their old name THQ Nordic. The company rebranded in 2019 and has been on a streak of snatching up third-party studios lately. Last year they acquired Gearbox and Aspyr with the idea of building a massive IP portfolio amongst all their studios. Having Crystal Dynamics, Eidos, and Square Enix Montréal to play with, there’s no telling what plans they could have for some of the IP now in their arsenal.
What I don’t get is why Square Enix sold so low? Gearbox (1.3 Billion) and Aspyr (450 million) sold for higher. This was for three with a mountain of untapped IP potential-wise! I know Square Enix has said games from those developers have underperformed, but come on now. Tomb Raider is still a household name in gaming. Fans have been begging for a new Deus Ex. Square just simply never could tap into the true potential of what they had. And that might be to Embracer Group’s gain.
It will be interesting to see what ripple effects come from this deal down the line for both sides. What do you think of the sale? Do you hope Embracer Group brings back some old IPs we haven’t seen in a while? Let us know in the comments below.
Via Embracer Group
