Embracer Group continues to lay off more employees and this time it hits Crystal Dynamics.
Even after Crystal Dynamics announced months ago that the ongoing layoffs at the parent company Embracer Group would not affect them, it has now been confirmed that it has been hit with a wave of layoffs.
Several Crystal Dynamics employees confirmed the layoffs on social media today. It seems the marketing and branding staff have been affected the most, but the exact scope is still uncertain. Senior Manager Nick Edwards posted, “Sadly the Embracer layoffs keep coming and I and a number of talented brand/marketing folks at Crystal are impacted.”
Senior Community and Social Manager Neha Nair stated, “There isn’t an easy way to say this so I’ll just rip the bandaid off because while I’m still processing, life unfortunately does not pause… After 3.5 years at [Crystal Dynamics], I was laid off today.”
Other staff posted on other platforms like LinkedIn including Communications Director Adam Kahn revealing he has been let go. No official statement yet from Crystal Dynamics.
A new report claims that the Swedish company Embracer Group is planning to sell the Borderlands maker Gearbox Software.
Reuters claims that Embracer is now looking at options for the Borderlands studio and one of them is to sell it. It claims that three people familiar with the matter have also stated that a sale is being considered at this stage and could not happen, but there is a slim chance of happening.
Two of these sources from Reuters also claim that Embracer already got third-party groups very interested in buying the studio. Since there are interested parties, the chance of the sale is steadily increasing.
In a later update, an email via Bloomberg revealed that Gearbox Chief Communications Officer Dan Hewitt told staff about the studio being put up for sale and there were many possible outcomes.
“The base case is that Gearbox remains a part of Embracer,” he said. “However, there are many options under consideration, including Gearbox’s transfer, taking Gearbox independent, and others. Ultimately, we’ll move ahead with whichever path is best for both Gearbox and Embracer.”
A new report has recently revealed the details of the collapsed major strategic partnership with Embracer Group.
According to Axios’ new report, Embracer Group’s mysterious $ billion major strategic partnership which collapsed last May 2023 was with Saudi Arabia’s funded company Savvy Games. It caused the company’s shares to drop by 40 percent thus changing its strategy to cut away some major costs.
Embracer explained it had reached a verbal commitment in October 2022 that would have resulted in more than $2 billion in contracted development revenue over a period of six years. Unfortunately, the other party let go of the deal at the last minute. Embracer declined to confirm who its proposed partner was at the time of its announcement, but this new report has shed light on it.
According to Axios, it claims it was the Saudi government-funded Savvy Games Group. This was the gaming-focused arm of the Saudi investment fund that was set up by the controversial Prince Mohammed bin Salman. While Axios’s sources state that it was Savvy Games Group, it could not determine its reason for walking away from the proposal.
The Embracer Group has not released a statement to confirm or deny these new claims.
In a new statement released with the second quarter earnings results, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors announced that Volition will be changing its group from Plaion (formerly Koch Media) to Gearbox Entertainment. According to Wingefors, the reason for the change is due to the reception of Saints Row did not meet their expectations and left the fanbase partially polarized.
The CEO did say that Volition has been working hard to improve the game experience for the players. Volition did reveal that there will be a big update coming later this month. He said that the transfer to Gearbox could help Volition with its future endeavors since this new game company has an experienced management team in the US.
It was also revealed that this is the first time that Embracer did an internal group transfer where they transfer a major studio between operative groups. He also promised that this is not the last time they will do this, which means there are plans for other studios as well.
Saints Row is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Publisher Embracer Group has now shut down Square Enix Montreal Studio just months after its acquisition.
According to a new report by media outlet Bloomberg, the Embracer Group has now shut down Onoma, formerly known as Square Enix Montreal. After getting sold off by its former masters, Square Enix, the studio has now dissolved. Some of its staff will now be part of Eidos Montreal, which is a studio owned by Embracer. The rebranding was also just a few weeks before getting shut down.
Onoma is popular for titles with the Go at its end. These are turn-based titles based on popular Eidos Interactive games for mobile like Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go. The studio’s recent work on Tomb Raider Reloaded for mobile.
The report revealed that the studio was shut down because it was part of a cost-cutting initiative. Eidos Montreal will also have its projects scaled back and cut. It is said that resources will be transferred to help in the development of the upcoming new Fable franchise development by Playground Games.
One AAA project has had a change of studios and was officially confirmed by the Embracer Group. Some speculate it is one of those remakes that they were going to publish.
The one game that had a troubling development was rumored to be a very aspiring remake, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. There was a previous report that said that it was going to be delayed indefinitely and the one who developed it, Aspyr, fired some staff due to that trouble.
Today, Embracer confirmed that a AAA project has now transitioned to another studio within the group. Aspyr is under the Embracer Group, they were working on the KOTOR remake, add those two together and you could guess which game was getting another studio.
While Embracer has not named the game or the studio, it was clear which ones were getting the “overhaul”. According to the company, the reason for the change was to ensure “the quality bar is where we need it to be for the title.”
“We are not expecting any material delays for the title based on this transition,” continued Group CEO Lars Wingefors in the latest Embracer Group interim report. This is opposite to the previous report about KOTOR remake getting delayed due to the troubled development. It seems everything is still on track.
During Embracer Group’s Financial Report, it was revealed that Gearbox Software is currently working on nine different games.
Gearbox Software Working on Almost 10 Games
After getting acquired by the Embracer Group last year, Gearbox Software has released two games that had gained popularity like Tribes of Midgard and Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Just recently in a financial report of the parent company, it was revealed that the game studio is now developing these numerous games.
Embracer Group did not elaborate on what the names of these games are, but they did say they are Triple A titles. Gearbox is also growing as a studio in order to meet their ambitious plan. This could mean the studio can start any game at any time if they want to. The parent company clearly wants the studio to grow faster in order to pump out as many results as possible.
Known Games in the Works
As to which titles are being developed right now, we can only make speculations, but there is some basis. For example, it is known that Tales From the Borderlands 2 is now in the works and is planned for release later this year. That could be one of the nine titles the studio is working on that Embracer Group mentioned.
Games to be Published
There are three games that Gearbox is publishing though this year and not developing. Homeworld 3 from Blackbird Interactive, Have a Nice Death from Magic Design Studios, and Eyes in the Dark: The Curious Case of One Victoria Bloom from Under the Stairs. There are two other games that are planned for next year, which are Hyper Light Breaker from Heart Machine, and Relic Hunters Legend from Rogue Snail.
As for the actual games that the Embracer Group mentioned, no one knows since they did not elaborate. Still, Gearbox is definitely busy. We will just have to wait and see what they are going to show us soon.
New report reveals possible reason for Square Enix to sell almost all of their western franchises and developers.
Embracer Group will be taking over both Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel’s Avengers from Square Enix. The sale of Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and studios like Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal has been a shock to everyone. This has left them scratching their heads as to why they would do that desperate move.
Senior MST Financial Analyst David Gibson (via Metro) speculates the reason for such a move. He thinks Square Enix lost a lot of millions on Marvel’s Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, specifically $200 million.
While there were other reports saying it was to make Square Enix more attractive to bigger companies to acquire them, Gibson suggests the reason simple: Square Enix has had enough of the North American developers. They do not want to lose any more money and they would like to gain back as much as they can. Selling these franchises and studios was the right choice if true. Gibson also thinks selling them to invest into blockchain technology is just silly.
Last night in an investor call, the Embracer Group has announced that they would take over as publisher of both Marvel’s Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, but they would have to wait for Disney’s approval. No word if Embracer Group is planning to fund Avengers since it is a live service game that needs constant new content.
The Japanese video game company Square Enix is selling several of its studios and their IPs to the Embracer Group. The Embracer group purchases Deus Ex and Tomb Raider, two well known game franchises and their studios, from Square Enix for $300 million USD. What will this mean for the future Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal?
The game publishing company, Embracer Group, announced on Monday May 02, 2022 that they are entering an agreement with Square Enix to purchase several game studios responsible for developing games like Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, and Thief. This agreement features a USD $300 million buyout to Square Enix for Embracer to acquire Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal.
Although Embracer has announced that they are purchasing the three studios, the deal isn’t finalized yet. Both the Embracer Group and Square Enix are set to seal the deal later this year. The purchase is expected to be completed around Embracer’s second quarter financial year, between July to September 2022. For $300 million in USD, Embracer Group will acquire the rights to:
The game development studios Crystal Dynamic Studios, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal. All three studios having a number of around 1,100 employees worldwide. It can be presumed that Square Enix Montreal will undergo a name change to symbolize the transfer of ownership.
IPs owned by Crystal Dynamic Studios, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal. These include the games of Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, and Thief as well as their sales and the operation of the studios for more than 50 other back-catalogue games.
Depending on how you feel about the sale, this can be taken as good news as Square Enix has been particularly ignoring popular games like Deus Ex or Tomb Raider for a long while now. The Embracer purchase of these studios will mean that we’ll see a return of these IPs back to life in the near future.
Back in 2009, Square Enix purchased both Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal which have gone on to create a reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise and Deus Ex that were actually well received and even later developed Marvel’s Avengers and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Despite the online praise for the games these studios have created, Square Enix has always mentioned that these studios have put out have under-performed.
Why Is The Embracer Group Buying These Studios From Square Enix?
The Embracer Group is apparently buying these three studios due to being impressed with their portfolio of games. So what’s going to happen to the games Embracer has acquired? According to a statement from Embracer’s press release:
The acquisition brings a compelling pipeline of new installments from beloved franchises and original IPs, including a new Tomb Raider game. The acquisition builds on Embracer’s mission of creating a leading independent global gaming and entertainment ecosystem. Embracer has been particularly impressed by the studios’ rich portfolio of original IP, housing brands with proven global potential such as Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, as well as demonstrating the ability to create AAA games with large and growing fan bases. There are compelling opportunities to organically grow the studios to maximize their commercial opportunities.
Embracer Group
While $300 million USD does sound expensive, it’s actually quite a steal for three game developer studios. Just last year the Embracer Group purchased Gearbox for $1.3 million USD which is significantly larger than what they’re buying Eidos Montreal, Square Enix Montreal, and Crystal Dynamics for.
So why is Square Enix selling these studios in the first place? According to the Square Enix press release, their reasons for selling are to “increase corporate value by accelerating growth.” It seems like they’re selling these studios due to their handling of their Western properties being less than stellar. Their statements on the press release are as follows:
The Transaction will assist the Company in adapting to the changes underway in the global business environment by establishing a more efficient allocation of resources, which will enhance corporate value by accelerating growth in the Company’s core businesses in the digital entertainment domain. In addition, the Transaction enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.
Square Enix
We’ll have to wait and see what Embracer has in store for Eidos Montreal, Crystal Dynamics, and Square Enix Montreal once the deal is finalized later this year. Not everything was sold to the Embracer Group however as the press release of their Share Transfer Agreement with the Embracer Group confirmed that they’re still publishing future games from Just Cause, Life Is Strange, and Outriders franchises.
Check out the conference video from the Embracer Group regarding their acquisition of these Square Enix studios.
Several gaming companies have recently donated a lot of cash to Ukraine in efforts to provide humanitarian relief.
The makers of This War of Mine, Polish developer 11 Bit Studios have recently donated 3m PLN (£520k). On its Facebook page, their message was clear and simple: “#FuckTheWar”.
In previous posts, the game studio did say they were going to donate all of the proceeds from the sale of anti-war game This War of Mine over the past week to the Ukrainian Red Cross.
“Your support gathered for Ukraine warms our hearts, but we still need you, please, do not stop. Buy This War of Mine anywhere and support victims of war in Ukraine.”
There are also other game companies that have shared the same sentiment in the past few days as well. They have raised fundraising drives and shared donations to Ukraine as well like Unity, Ubisoft, CD Projekt RED, and Embracer.
Just recently more game developers donated as well. Swedish game studio Fatshark, the makers of Warhammer Vermintide 2 donated 300K SEK (more or less £25k) to the Red Cross. Quantic Dream, makers of Heavy Rain, donated $75K to the UN Refugee Agency. Supercell has donated $1 million for humanitarian relief.
We are deeply concerned by the escalating events in Ukraine. Quantic Dream donated today $75,000 USD to the UNHCR @Refugees to help those in need of support. Our thoughts are with our friends and our trusted partners in the region. https://t.co/9yBk7Xn0EFpic.twitter.com/hor9UDKKjU
The Pokemon Company, makers of the Pokemon game series, have also stated in a press release they have made an immediate donation of $200K to their partners at GlobalGiving to provide humanitarian relief.
More and more companies from the game industry have banded together and shared funds in order to help Ukraine’s innocent civilians.
