Embracer Group to buy Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Montréal, Eidos-Montréal, Plus IPs for $300 million
Embracer Group, the parent company of Swedish video games and parent company of Gearbox, Saber Interactive and THQ Nordic (among many others), has signed an agreement to acquire several studios and some IPs from Square Enix.
Included in the deal are three studios – Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Montréal and Eidos-Montréal – plus a portfolio of IPs and games including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, The legacy of kain and more than 50 “back-catalog” titles. The acquisition will include more than 1,100 employees at three studios, for a total purchase price of $300 million.
The news was made available through a press release from both companies. Embracer expects the deal “to close in the second quarter of Embracer’s fiscal year 22/23 (July-September 2022)”.
Square Enix state in its press release The transaction enables the launch of new businesses by continuing to invest in areas including blockchain, AI, and the cloud. The Japanese company also said that it “will continue to publish franchises like Reason, Outridersand Strange La River life“.
Following the close of this transaction, the US will be Embracer’s #1 country by number of game developers, and Canada will be #2. In total, after pending closures, Embracer will have over 14,000 employees. , 10,000 engaged game developers and 124 in-house studios. Embracer’s upcoming content channel includes over 230 games with over 30 AAA games. This acquisition will bring additional scale to Embracer’s existing AAA segment, and Embracer will feature one of the largest channels of PC/Console gaming content in the industry, across all genres.
This is the latest in a series of well-known acquisitions in the video game industry, with Microsoft in the process. $68.7 billion acquisition by Activision Blizzard, after selecting Bethesda and its IP in 2020.
