Embracer Group completes acquisition of ‘Tomb Raider’ and ‘Deus Ex’ studios

Embracer Group has today announced that its acquisition of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal and Square Enix Montréal is complete, following the agreement in May 2022.

The acquisition sees Embracer Group taking ownership of the three development studios alongside a host of intellectual properties (IPs) including Tomb Raider, Deux Ex, Legacy of Kain and “more than 50 back-catalogue games from Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd.” according to an announcement on its website.

Today (August 26) Embracer Group has announced that “all conditions for the transaction, including regulatory approvals, have now been fulfilled and the transaction may be completed.” The acquired studios will form the 12th operative group under the leadership of Square Enix America and Europe CEO, Phil Rogers.

In a statement on the acquisition, Rogers said, “Embracer is the best kept secret in gaming: a massive, decentralised collection of entrepreneurs whom we are thrilled to become a part of today.”

Embracer Group completed the acquisition for a reported £253.6million ($300million), with the valuation raising some eyebrows, but was decided on the basis that there was “limited competition for acquisition of the assets” (via, Euro News). Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games research at Ampere Analysis, said that interest could be “curtailed by the lack of live service expertise,” referring to games that offer continuous updates.

Square Enix, whose franchises include the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, plans to use the proceeds from the sale of the western-based studios to focus on the metaverse including aspects of blockchain, artificial intelligence and the cloud.

Back in May, Embracer Group said it was interested in putting out sequels, remakes, remasters and spinoffs from the Square Enix-owned studios in the acquisition.

In other gaming news, Nintendo has commented that it has “no plans” to raise the price of Nintendo Switch consoles, following the announcement that the cost of PlayStation 5’s has increased, effective immediately.