Square Enix Just SOLD a TON of GAME STUDIOS! Embracer Groups TAKES OVER?

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Square Enix has sold Eidos, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix Montreal to Embracer Group including their IPs (Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief etc) for $300m

Transaction likely to close between July-September 2022 Embracer Group AB (”Embracer”) has entered into an agreement to acquire the development studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Square Enix Montréal, and a catalogue of IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain and more than 50 back-catalogue games from SQUARE ENIX HOLDINGS CO., LTD. (“Square Enix Holdings”). In total, the acquisition includes ~1,100 employees across three studios and eight global locations. The total purchase price amounts to USD 300 million on a cash and debt free basis, to be paid in full at closing. Embracer has secured additional long-term debt funding commitments for this and other transactions in the pipeline. The company today reiterates its current Operational EBIT forecast for FY 21/22, FY 22/23, and FY 23/24. The transaction is subject to various regulatory and other external approvals and is expected to close during the second quarter of Embracer’s financial year 22/23 (July-September 2022).

Embracer will hold a webcast presentation for investors, analysts and media on 2 May 2022 at CET 09.00. Please find details in a separate invitation that will follow this release.

[DreamcastGuy]

Thanks for LIKING the video! What do YOU think about this deal? <3

[dylangirard]

I miss the old square. The one from the 90s and early 2000s.

[TotallyToonsTV]

I'm surprised about Embracer Group but not too concerned. They revived THQ and got them to bring back older beloved IP's like Destroy All Humans, Saints Row, Darksiders, Timesplitters (new game in development) and Crysis....maybe THIS way we'll finally get another Deus Ex, Thief and/or Legacy of Kain game

The Square Enix/Soft I knew when I was younger isn't the same one I know now anyway

[fattiger]

Sounds like Square is in a worse financial situation than we thought. Selling off their western studios is a big move. Maybe those rumours of Sony buying Square was true and they'll pick up the Japanese side. On the other hand, Square never did very well managing their western devs anyway and maybe they just wanted to be rid of them.

I knew Embracer was making big moves into AAA gaming. Hopefully this is a good thing and we can get some Legacy of Kain and Deus Ex games. But it could also be a very bad thing as Embracer's getting a bit too big for comfort.

[ChaoticHoly]

SquareEnix wasn't doing crap with the named IPs, and Crystal Dynamics "work" on Marvel's Avengers was one of the biggest jokes of 2020. Hell, one of my comments in a previous video pointed out just how badly SE has _blundered_ these named Western IPs. And SE moving on to the *Block Chain Pyramid Scheme* to make dosh? Yeah, that's yet _another_ great decision.

[jacobm]

I already believed him, but it looks like Yuji Naka was telling the truth when he said SE doesn't care about games or game fans.

[iulixMAXgames]

This is actually really good because square-enix really don't care about those IPs they want now to make only garbage live service games full of microtransactions or NFT 🤢🤮👎

[ivandeloo]

Fact about Embracer Group:
They own alot of game studios and Ips. They have over 14000 employees, own 124 Internal studios and Publishers, 850 Ips and making currently 230 new games.

Some Companies they own:
Amplifier Game Invest, Asmodee, Coffee Stain Holding, Dark Horse Media, DECA Games, Easybrain, Gearbox Entertainment, Koch Media, Saber Interactive and THQ Nordic.

[krazycharlie]

For such a high profile sale, the price tag is quite cheap, it sure was a bargain for what it was sold. As for Square Enix, I highly doubt that Metaverse and NFTs will save the day for them, but hey! If that blunder is what it takes for them to rectify the direction of the ship, well, they can't blame it on their player base for their failure.

[TheWARQUZ]

Embracer will be a fresh start for all these IPs since the company and the board loves and respect gaming and the history that comes with it. Right now Embracer is building a massive gamingvault to preserv games.

[MyManJFKTV]

Weird for Square, but hopefully this is good news for a possible re-emergence of Soul Reaver.

[kboi]

One of two things is going to happen:
Either Sony will gobble up Square, or Square will go the route of Konami by stopping the development of games and make a profit from NFTs, anime, manga, and panchinko (or however tf you spell it) machines.

[diksonh]

I believe debt free basis means the buyer do not acquire the debt. Meaning 300m is the acquisition value, no extra associated

[OdinAesthetic]

Little secret: when something that WAS great gets sold. It's usually because the selling owner knows the future is not as bright as the past.

Activision, Bethesda etc.

[alsybroth]

Holy shit, you really didn’t do any of your research did you?
Embracer aren’t simply ‘a bunch of millionaires’ they’re THQ Nordic, a billion dollar Swedish game publisher albeit under a new rebranded name.
They own Koch Media (Deep Silver), Dark Horse media (that includes the comics) as well as Gearbox Software.
They have brought back Shadow Warrior, Destroy All Humans, Saints Row, Darksiders, Metro and they were the publisher behind Shenmue III - so even regardless of what you thought of these games, they have no qualms resurrecting dormant franchises (a revival of Timesplitters is currently in the works)

“These are all homegrown, profitable franchises” Wrong and wrong.
Eidos Interactive and Crystal Dynamics were acquired by Square back in 2009 and aside from Tomb Raider, all their IPS have undersold Square’s expectations and they haven’t even given thought to bringing back Deus Ex or Thief since their last incarnations and we haven’t seen a Legacy of Kain title in 20 years (and now that might ALL change 🤞)

It’s obvious Square is axing all their western divisions just like Capcom did and sticking to their original Japanese IPs like Final Fantasy & Dragon Quest.
And they’ve made clear they’re sticking to their goal in regards to NFTs and blockchain cryptocurrency.
I hope to CHRIST that Square doesn’t go the direction of Konami, that’ll be the worst.

[RoastedJustice]

Square Enix is in a dire state.

Balan Wonderworld, Babylon's Fall, Final Fantasy Origins (meh) & Avengers.
If you aren't an internal Japanese Square Enix team, then you're not getting any budget or being horribly mismanaged (studio and IP).

Square Enix have had awful business sense and direction for awhile now.

And the press release from the CEO saying that selling these studios will free up funds to invest in blockchains, just shows how out of touch they are, especially since NFTs nosedived in revenue.

It's like the mindset of Sega (2000s) all over again lol.

Don't be surprised if Square Enix end up doing so badly that they need to merge, or sell themselves at a discount 😂.

[limpis]

Hopefully eidos can keep that guardians of the galaxy licence and maybe make deus ex.
People seriously be sleeping on embracer group. They are quietly one of the biggest publishers around. Interesting that from my perspective the most notable studios from square got sold off. Not to mention that it feels like no one is talking about this. And only for $340 m? Great deal for embracer.

[GotCamel]

It’s funny because they are going to immediately fuck up their “fresh start” by doing NFTs. I don’t see how Square is going to make it. It’s almost as if Sega and Square are playing off of each other and running their companies into the ground.

[fishingmule]

I always thought it was weird that SE bought Eidos and Crystal Dynamics to begin with. They’ve done a pretty crappy job with them, so it’s probably better they part ways. I’d be happy if Square Enix just concentrated on doing justice to their Japanese games. The fact that they’re still on this block chain fantasy though makes me feel like they might screw everything up

[lennywright]

Depending on how much debt Square/Enix had this might not be a bad deal, I doubt losing western studios would affect Japanese development that drastically.