Sweden-based publisher Embracer Group has acquired Eidos from Square Enix. More specifically, it has agreed to buy Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal. The three studios were known as part of Square Enix’s collection of overseas studios and worked on series associated with the former Eidos Interactive brand. By the standards of recent major acquisitions in the game industry, the asking price was low: About USD 300 million [Thanks, Cision].
Formerly known as THQ Nordic, Embracer Group is one of the gaming industry’s biggest holding companies. In recent years, it’s grown its umbrella even more through several acquisition sprees. In 2021, it picked up Borderlands and Godfall developer/publisher Gearbox Software for USD 1.3 billion. By the end of the same year, it had made no less than thirty-seven acquisitions, with plans to complete up to thirty-five more. Its current portfolio includes many well-known gaming brands like Koch Media, Aspyr, 3D Realms, and Slipgate Ironworks. The Embracer x Eidos deal puts the company in ultimate charge of the Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain series. Crystal Dynamics was also known to be working with Microsoft on a reboot of Xbox shooter Perfect Dark and a new Tomb Raider game. It and Eidos-Montréal also developed the Marvel’s Avengers and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy games, respectively. The announcement makes no mention of whether the Marvel-branded titles will continue under Embracer or Square Enix.
For its part, Square Enix stated in its own press release that the transaction would enable it to “launch new businesses” and move forward with planned investments in fields “including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.” Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda previously spoke positively about NFTs and blockchain-based gaming in his 2022 New Year’s Letter. Though the acquisition of Eidos by Embracer Group represents a spinoff of Square Enix’s largest “western” studios, Square Enix will continue publication of overseas-developed franchises like Just Cause, Outriders, and Life is Strange.
