While Square Enix takeover rumors have been rife for several months, things took a rather unexpected turn at the start of the week. The ogre Embracer Group, which has already bought no less than 37 studios (including Gearbox) last year, has just taken over the Western branch of the Japanese publisher.
So only Square Enix will remain from Square Enix. In a press release published this morning by Embracer, the publisher announced that it was getting its hands on Eidos, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix Montreal.
Flagship licenses that change hands
More than these studios, it is many licenses that the company of Lars Wingefors has just acquired. By monopolizing Square Enix's three Western studios, the Swedish publisher notably got its hands on:
- tomb raider
- Deus Ex
- Thief
- Legacy of Kain
- And more than 50 other licenses from the Square Enix catalog
Names on which Embracer of course plans to capitalize, to the point of reviving with fans the hope of a reboot of the Legacy of Kain license. Note, however, that the IPs Outriders, Life is Strange or Just Cause remain the property of Square Enix.
"We are excited to welcome these studios to the Embracer group," CEO Lars Wingefors wrote in a statement. We recognize fantastic licensing, world-class creative talent and a track record of excellence that has been demonstrated time and time again over the past decades.”
Phil Roger, CEO of Square Enix America & Europe, for his part praised the decentralized nature of the new buyer of his studios. "It's the ideal crucible for our ambitions: to make high quality games, with great people, by growing and sustaining our licenses in the best possible way".
AAA studios for a pittance
What is perhaps even more surprising than this surprise announcement is the amount advanced by Embracer Group to acquire Eidos, Crystal Dynamics and Square Montreal.
In a world where Microsoft is able to spend 68,7 billion dollars to afford Activision-Blizzard, Embracer would have had only to present an envelope of 300 million dollars. For comparison, Sony bought out Bungie for $3,6 billion. And Embracer, again, had spent $ 525 million to buy Saber Interactive in 2020. A single studio, whose track record is far from being as prestigious as the names we are talking about here.
A bargain price therefore, which can be explained in particular by successive commercial failures on the part of Eidos (Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy) and Crystal Dynamics (Marvel's Avengers). Especially since the latest projects signed by the publishing branch of Square Enix have not been successful either (Outriders, Balan Wonderworld or more recently Babylon's Fall).
A pressure that is undoubtedly beginning to weigh heavily on the shoulders of Square Enix, currently focused on the end of the development of Final Fantasy XVI. But that's not all: in the press release from Square Enix, we also learn that this sale is motivated by "the launch of new activities, with investments in areas including blockchain, AI and the cloud. »
There will be a lot of analysis to be made of this new acquisition. But with regard to the employees of the various studios who are changing hands today, Embracer has already announced that the approximately 1100 employees of the eight divisions will remain in their positions.
Once this transaction is finalized, Embracer Group will have 124 in-house studios for more than 14 employees worldwide.
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