Embracer Group Purchases Western Studios Crystal Dynamic And Eidos Montreal From Square Enix

The publisher/studio Square Enix is parting ways with some of their western region production studios. In a deal announced by the Swedish gaming and holdings company Embracer Group (formerly Nordic Games), who has amassed a great deal of properties in recent years, made the announcement of the acquisition of the Tomb Raider and Deus Ex producers for $300 million dollars for Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix's Montreal division. 

Along with the three studio divisions, Embracer also gains 1,100 employees across eight locations across the globe. They also gain rights to properties such as Thief, the Legacy of Kain series (which Square Enix did absolutely nothing with), and former Crystal Dynamics mascot Gex.

”We are thrilled to welcome these studios into the Embracer Group. We recognize the fantastic IP, world class creative talent, and track record of excellence that have been demonstrated time and again over the past decades. It has been a great pleasure meeting the leadership teams and discussing future plans for how they can realize their ambitions and become a great part of Embracer,” says Lars Wingefors, Co-founder and Group CEO, Embracer Group.

It's amazing that this move follows a very lengthy story from Sonic the Hedgehog creator and former Square Enix employee Yuji Naka, who had a falling out with the publisher after his project Balan Wonderworld completely fell through the cracks in production, but it appears it was less on his creative vision and a little more to do with some power pushing from Square Enix and their mission statement. 

Crystal Dynamics also produced Marvel's Avengers, a game that started out as a commercial success, but failed to retain its player base as time went on, as Square Enix's live service roadmap saw a dearth of content and repetitive gameplay. Square Enix also mismanaged its handling of the Hitman franchise, with the popular Hitman series declaring it "financially unsuccessful", with the publisher giving the rights back to IO Interactive in 2017. 

Perhaps Yuji Naka was right. Square Enix doesn't care about its fans. At the very least, they were courteous enough to part with properties they saw little value in, for whatever that's worth.

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