the swedish group Embracer announced this Monday (2) the acquisition of three studios that were part of the giant Square Enix. From now on, Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montreal e Square Enix Montreal move to a new home.
This also means that a catalog of more than 50 franchises will be transferred, including successful series and with several recent titles – including names like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief e Legacy of Kain. The approximately 1,100 employees at the three studios, who work in eight different countries, will also make the company transition.
According to Embracer, the studios must “achieve excellence within the operating model and as an ownership” of the group, receiving new business goals but also having funding for ongoing projects — such as the already confirmed new game in the Tomb Raider series in Unreal Engine 5, quoted in the official press release, and the resumption of Deus Ex, as indicated in the most recent investor conference.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution.Source: Square Enix
all in all, the negotiation involved US$ 300 million, but it still needs to be confirmed by industry regulators. The expectation is that it will be completed until September 2022 and further details on the transferred properties are expected to be announced soon.
Changes
If you don’t know the Embracer Group, don’t worry: the group actually exists in a discreet way to be a studio umbrella. He was previously the developer THQ Nordic, which expanded to embrace more companies. In recent years, the Saber Interactive brands (from World War Z and the new franchise game Evil Dead) e Gearbox (from the Borderlands and Brothers in Arms series, among other sagas).
Square Enix has made a number of structural and strategic changes in recent months. Already hinting at the separation of styles, an executive claimed that “Japanese games shouldn’t imitate Westerners”. In addition, the brand seems focused in 35 years of the Final Fantasy series and started endeavors in the blockchain and NFTs sector – which displeased a large part of the public, but did not bring financial losses to the company.
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