Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and Co move to Europe

The Swedish Embracer Group wants to buy Square Enix three studios and numerous brands like Tomb Raider and Co.

For some years now, an unprecedented revolution has been taking place in the industry. Large publishers keep buying smaller or medium -sized studios and thus strengthening their market position. In addition, there are mega deals such as the takeover of Bethesda by Microsoft or the purchase of Zynga through Take-Two Interactive.

But the lively shopping frenzy is not limited to large American and Asian publishers. The Swedish Embracer Group has also been working hard in the acquisition for years. In recent years, the Scandinavian company has bought studios and publisher such as Saber Interactive, Gearbox software, Koch Media or Aspyr and has thus become the largest European publisher with annual turnover of over 1.4 billion euros.

Now the Embracer Group has succeeded in the next coup. Square Enix sells the three studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal and a number of different brands. These include Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain and more than 50 other games. It is not yet known which brands belong. Just Cause, Outriders and Life is Strange but remain with Square Enix. In addition, the purchase affects around 1,100 employees through three studios at eight locations. Compared to other deals in the industry, the $ 300 million, which the Embracer Group pays for the purchase, seems almost like a bargain. Especially if you only consider the Tomb-Raider license alone.

So why did Square Enix separate from some of his western studios? As industry analyst Daniel Ahmad says, the western teams have not always delivered the numbers that were expected in Japan in the past. This opposite is strong growth among the Japanese teams in the segments MMO and smart devices, so that Square Enix had long been looking for a way to sell the corresponding developers. If the relevant authorities have agreed and the legal requirements are met, the purchase should be completed by September 2022.

Despite Swedish leadership, the individual studios should remain largely independent and work. This means that current projects and collaborations are continued. For example, Microsoft's Team The Initiative has already commented that this will be continued with Crystal Dynamics on the Reboot by Perfect Dark. Last year, the purchase of Leyou through Tencent, who worked for Amazon on one of the Lord of the Rings MMO, showed that this does not always have to be the case. Shortly after the transaction, the project was hired without a sound.

It remains to be hoped that the continued consolidation of the gaming market does not affect the creativity of the developers too much. As much as financial security, especially for smaller studios, enables long -term planning, this is always certain that internal targets are always associated. And if these are not achieved several times, it no longer matters whether you are independent or not. See Square Enix.