The group which closed or sold 44 studios, canceled 29 video games and fired many licenses is disappointed with the performance of these 2 titles. Nostalgia isn’t everything!

Game news The group which closed or sold 44 studios, canceled 29 video games and fired many licenses is disappointed with the performance of these 2 titles. Nostalgia isn’t everything!

Embracer: from insatiable appetite to indigestion

You are surely beginning to know the story of Embracer. Born under the name Nordic Games, the company has mainly been talked about from 2014, when it bought the THQ name. In 2018, the company bought the publisher Koch Media (since renamed Plaion) and began a buyout phase which will last almost four years. Were thus redeemed Coffee Stains, Game Outlet Europe, Tarsier, Saber Interactive, 4A Games, New World Interactive, or even Gearbox, Asmodee, Crystal Dynamics, Eidos and Square Enix Montreal. It was during this period that THQ Nordic became Embracer, and the company was seen as the European ogre of video games and, more broadly, entertainment.

Embracer did not just buy game studios and publishers, but also Dark Horse Media and Middle-Earth Enterprises. Unfortunately for the employees of this gigantic group, the year 2023 will mark the end of abundance. After the cancellation of an agreement which would have allowed it to receive two billion dollars in investments, Embracer begins a violent restructuring.

In one year, Embracer closed or returned 44 studios and separated 4,532 employees. Some of them were fired, others were able to escape without being replaced, and more than 3,000 of them left with Saber, which bought its independence with millions of dollars. Gearbox, for its part, was sold to Take-Two, in a remarriage that seems almost natural.

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Alone in the Dark and Outcast disappoint

In its financial statement, the group announces a turnover of 3.6 billion euros, for a net result of -1.5 billion. An assessment which corresponds to expectations, but within which we find two main disappointments: Alone in the Dark and Outcast: A New Beginning did not in fact did not meet expectations according to the group, who obviously hoped that the aura of these franchises would allow the titles to find their audience. Both cult, the first Alone in the Dark and Outcast had with a certain nostalgic potential which could not be realized.

Tomb Raider I-III Remastered and Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor exceeded expectations, as did Lightyear Frontier and Arzette; The Jewel of Faramoire. By the end of the fiscal year, Embracer will be able to count on Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 And Killing Floor 3. Soon, Embracer will be separated into three independent companies: Asmodee, Coffee Stain & Friends and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. The implementation of this separation should not take long, it remains to be seen whether it will stop the terrible dynamic in which the video game industry finds itself.