You will start the week and the month well with a piece of news that is surprising? There is something for which what we have just learned is so surprising. Embrace Groupthe Swedish giant that buys companies as if it were shopping, comes fromannounce its new acquisitionsnamely three studios that until now belonged to Square-Enix, as well as the catalog of licenses that go with it, including big names in video games. The lucky ones are therefore Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal, a good part of the Western studios that the Japanese firm had, with more than 1,100 employees and premises spread over eight locations. As for licensing, tomb Raider (of which a new episode is in development), Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain change ownershipjust like fifty other games.
The sum disbursed amounts to approximately 300 million dollars in cash and the acquisition will only be finalized between July and September 2022. Lars Wingefors, co-founder and CEO ofEmbrace Group spoke after the announcement:
We are delighted to welcome these studios to the Embracer group. We recognize the fantastic intellectual properties, world-class creative talent and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and time again over the past decades. It was a great pleasure to meet the management teams and discuss future plans on how they can achieve their ambitions and become a big part of Embracer.
On the side of Square Enix Europe and Americathe time is also visibly for rejoicing, as evidenced by these few words from his CEO Phil Rogers:
Embracer is gaming’s best-kept secret: a massive, decentralized collection of entrepreneurs that we’re thrilled to be a part of today. It’s the perfect fit for our ambitions: to create high-quality games, with great people, in a sustainable way, and to grow our existing franchises to their best versions. Embracer allows us to forge new partnerships across all media to maximize the potential of our franchises and live our dreams of making extraordinary entertainment.
When the transaction is finalized, Embrace will thus become the first in terms of the number of developers in the United States and number two in Canada with more than 14,000 employees, including 10,000 committed developers, with 124 internal studios. The group has on fire no less than 230 games including 30 AAAwe will have plenty to do in the years to come.
And unfortunately, No new Deus Ex on the horizon for the moment despite what has been reported by some on the Web, but there is now hope given the interest in the saga, cited several times. Eidos Montreal still has several AAA in development under Unreal Engine 5 including “both new releases of beloved franchises and original intellectual property.”
On the side of Square-Enixlicenses like JustCause, Outriders and Life is Strange will still be released, in addition to all of his well-known Japanese titles. However, it is worth noting that the communicated of the company cites as the reason for the sale a desire “to move forward with investments in areas such as blockchain, AI and cloud “. Yes, nothing reassuring on the first point, the publisher having already mentioned the NFT in the past…
On the other hand, we can now seriously question ourselves about the future of Marvel’s Avengerswhich was developed by Crystal Dynamicswhose months may be numbered… You can also buy it for only €16.34 on Amazon.
Read also: Crystal Dynamics Welcomes Days Gone Director Jeff Ross
| Alexandre SAMSON (Omega Law) Responsible Corrector – Editor | ||
| Addicted to Assassin’s Creed and Destiny, great fan of RPGs and passionate about video game experiences in general. Reader of comics (DC) and various manga (One Piece!). Chemist by training and Whovian at heart. | ||
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