Passing from the supervision of Square-Enix to that ofEmbracethe studios Crystal Dynamics And Eidos Montreal saw their plans completely turned upside down, no doubt for the better. Whatever one may think of the two publishers, Embracer seems to be the most inclined to bet as heavily on the popular licenses of these studios as on their dormant licenses, which gives us hope for the return of sagas that have been shelved for too long. We already know that a new tomb Raider is on the way at Crystal Dynamics (with the collaboration of Amazon), but a total of 5 AAA should arrive within 5 years at the two studios.
Come on, at least one Deus Ex in the lot, please
It is Lars Wingefors, CEO of Embracer, who clarifies this in an update on upcoming projects within the group (reported by VGC). Interestingly enough, Wingefors clarifies what it means by an AAA by stating that these would be projects on which we would rely on a work force of around 100 peopleat least during the time when the development reaches its highest yield.
It also indicates that these games would aim to sell at least two million copies., which is probably much less than what Square Enix could expect from these two studios. We imagine, however, that Embracer will judge on a case-by-case basis, as the CEO points out in the event of external partners being added, such as Amazon with tomb Raiderwhere forecasts would be revised accordingly.
All these details are interesting since so far, Embracer has only had a few AAAs, at least on the scale of the immensity of its catalog. This is about to drastically change since Dead Island 2, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II and more are coming in the coming months, with a forecast of 31 AAA games by March 2023, of which 17 would currently be in full production.
There are no less than 11 at Saber Interactive (including Star Wars KOTOR Remake), but what interests us here are the 5 planned at Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal. The next tomb Raider is included in the lot, but it is not known if Perfect Dark, co-developed with The Initiative on behalf of Microsoft, is one such project. All we hope is that a return of Deus Ex is in the pipes, and, let’s dream a little, a new Legacy of Kain.