The Embracer Group has embraced another major chunk of the gaming industry with news about a deal with Square Enix this morning.
If all goes to plan, the $300 million transaction would see most of Square Enix’s western developers transfer to the Sweedish collective. This includes three developers, namely Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal. The teams have produced the most recent Tomb Raider and Deus Ex games, and Embracer will get the rights to those franchises as well as close to 50 others to go along with the studios.
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In a statement this morning, Square Enix revealed that the money from the deal would enable them to enter new businesses moving forward, naming blockchain and the cloud as technologies they want to explore. The company also reassured onlookers that it wasn’t fully out of Western development, mentioning Just Cause, Outriders, and Life is Strange as games they’d continue to shepherd after the deal is complete.
Today we have entered into agreement to welcome over 1000 new colleagues through the acquisition of @CrystalDynamics, @EidosMontreal, and @SquareEnixMtl with a fantastic catalog of IPs such as Tomb Raider and Deux Ex, to be part of our ecosystem.https://t.co/NqELDQKTGe
— Embracer Group (@embracergroup) May 2, 2022
One holdout in the acquisition is Marvel, as both Marvel’s Avengers and the recent Guardians of the Galaxy game were not discussed by either party. When asked about the games in a live stream presentation this morning, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors suggested that Disney would have to examine the deal themselves and approve the new owners of the developer before Marvel games could join the company. Considering the performance of Marvel’s Avengers, in particular, this new situation could throw the future of that game’s live service offerings into jeopardy.
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Neither Embracer nor Square Enix has released a full list of the franchises that will transfer in the deal, but Embracer did mention several by name. Besides Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain were specifically mentioned in their presentation. The company has a long history of HD remakes for older titles they acquire, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see any of those names in new compilations in the coming years.
