The lich king strikes again. Embrace Group, the parent company that resurrected THQ Nordic famous for… embracing… various companies under its fold in the recent years has announced the acquisition of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal.
The deal, worth up to $300 million USD, also includes a “catalogue of IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain and more than 50 back-catalogue games” previously held by Square Enix, which the three developers were under.
”We are thrilled to welcome these studios into the Embracer Group”, says Lars Wingefors, Co-founder and Group CEO, Embracer Group. “We recognize the fantastic IP, world class creative talent, and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and again over the past decades.”
“Embracer is the best kept secret in gaming: a massive, decentralized collection of entrepreneurs whom we are thrilled to become a part of today,” says Phil Rogers, Square Enix America and Europe CEO. “It is the perfect fit for our ambitions: make high-quality games, with great people, sustainably, and grow our existing franchises to their best versions ever.”
This move will see Square Enix selling off its North American-based developers, and a lot of the IPs from its previous acquisition of Eidos in 2009.
The Japanese publishers still have some presence in the west. It still operates Square Enix External Studios, where it works with external developers like their arrangement with People Can Fly for Outriders.
Square Enix betted big with its western studios by making two games based on the Marvel licence. Crystal Dynamics made the ill-received Marvel’s Avengers while Eidos Montreal recently released Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy (which we reviewed favourably).
Square Enix Montreal, which we presume will have a name change soon, were responsible for the many mobile game adaptations of western Square Enix titles like Lara Croft Go, Deus Ex Go and Hitman Go.
Crystal Dynamics is currently developing the next Tomb Raider game, running on Unreal Engine 5. We won’t be surprised if classic Crystal D IPs like the Legacy Of Kain series or Gex get a release for modern consoles.
There’s no word of Eidos Montreal’s next project yet, but there’s hope that Deus Ex, cited alongside Tomb Raider on the press release as the top two recognisable IPs in the purchase, now has a possibility to return from its long hiatus.
Meanwhile, Square Enix Montreal is currently working on Hitman Sniper Assassins, a mobile game based on Hitman, an IP Square Enix used to own, but has flourished ever since developers IO Interactive went independent.
Source: Embracer Group