The lord of the rings therefore has a name, his name is Lars Wingefors and reigns over more than 120 studios and not far from 14,000 soldiers. A workforce that does not yet include the eight companies whose acquisition the Swedish group has just announced, starting with Middle-earth Enterprises, which deals with all products based on the work of JRR Tolkien, whether we are talking about books, films, series, board games, attractions and of course video games. While the license is still the subject of frequent covetousness, as evidenced by recent game announcements from Electronic Arts and Take-Two, it is therefore Embracer who will now be responsible for managing the rights of the famous fantasy universe, which is back in force at the start of the school year on Prime Video with the new series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
To find its place within an increasingly sprawling group, Middle-earth Enterprises is placed under the management of an 11th operational center founded for the occasion. It is called Embracer Freemode and also takes the studio under its wing Singtrix, a karaoke platform founded by Guitar Hero alumni. The Swedish studio also comes to Embracer Freemode Bitwave Games, retro specialists currently at work on a port of the NES game Mr. Gimmick on modern platforms. Yes, it was probably one of the games that Sunsoft was going to announce tonight in its showcase.
Physics matters too
Embracer, whose desire for diversification no longer surprises anyone after adopting companies such as Dark Horse and Asmodee, also announces the purchase of Gioteck, one of the leading manufacturers of video game controllers and headsets in Europe. We also know that Embracer is quite sensitive to the question of physical format and preservation, which leads us straight to the acquisition of Limited Run Games, a famous factory for collectors whose success of the approach is no longer to be proven. . Also under the management of Josh Fairhurst and Douglas Bogart, Limited Run Games will come under the management of the Embracer Freemode hub alongside the recently opened outlet in North Carolina.
Embracer gets its first Japanese studio and Toaplan games
A major first, Embracer also announces the acquisition of Tatsujin, his very first studio based in Japan. It is directed by Masahiro Yuge, one of the founders of Toaplan (Truxton, Snow Bros, Sky Shark) whose catalog Embracer also took care to acquire separately to entrust it to Tatsujin. Finally, not stopping in such a good way, Embracer has also acquired two other studios which will for their part integrate the Saber Interactive pole. These are Tripwire Interactive (Killing Floor, Maneater) and Tuxedo Labs (Teardown).
The minimum amount of these acquisitions is 6 billion Swedish crowns (566 million euros), most of which will be paid in cash. Depending on the bonuses and the objectives achieved in the coming years, the total amount could approach up to 8.2 billion Swedish crowns (773 million euros). According to the objectives announced for the period from April 2022 to March 2025, Embracer hopes that these acquisitions will bring in 755 million euros in turnover and 235 million euros in profits before interest and taxes.
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