Square Enix sells off Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Crystal Dynamics, and Eidos

Square Enix will sell off Western studios Eidos (Crystal Dynamics), Square Enix Montreal, and the franchises that these studios create, to Embracer Group. The announcement was made Monday. The $300 million deal will give Embracer Group ownership of more than 50 back-catalog games from Square Enix’s library and will affect 1,100 employees across three studios.

Sweden’s Embracer owns the publishing and development studios Gearbox Software and THQ Nordic. Saber Interactive and Saber Interactive are all owned by Embracer. Deep Silver and Koch Media are also part of Embracer. Embracer is also expanding beyond video games by acquiring comic book publisher Dark Horse, and tabletop publisher Asmodee. When Square Enix’s deal is completed, Embracer will be home to more than 14,000 people, 10,000 developers and 124 studios.

Square Enix says the sale of its studios and IP will establish “a more efficient allocation of resources” and enable “the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.”

In a news release announcing the sale, Embracer said it was “impressed by the studios’ rich portfolio of original IP,” namely Tomb Raider and Deus Ex (which have sold a combined 100 million units), and saw “compelling opportunities to organically grow the studios to maximize their commercial opportunities.” Embracer said it sees opportunity to invest in the aforementioned IP, as well as Legacy of Kain, Thief, “and other original franchises.”

Crystal Dynamics announced in March it was working on a new entry in the Tomb Raider franchise, built in Unreal Engine 5, a follow-up to 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Crystal Dynamics also assists in the development of this new product. Darkness is perfectXbox Game Studios Darkness is perfect developer The Initiative says it will continue to work with Crystal DynamicsYou can play the game.

Eidos Montreal, the developer of Thief and Deus Ex was released most recently Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and Crystal Dynamics’ most recently released Marvel’s Avengers. Neither Marvel-owned property was mentioned in Embracer’s announcement of the sale.

Square Enix Montreal is the studio that created the latest mobile Go spinoffs, which were based on Hitman and Tomb Raider. HitmanThe Shadows and SniperAvailable for iOS and Android devices. Embracer said Square Enix Montreal would “continue to develop and operate memorable mobile games based on AAA IP.”

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