Embracer Group to Buy Multiple Square Enix Studios and IPs in Huge Acquisition

Wow, that’s a decent purchase if that price is correct.

Hopefully we get more Deus Ex, Thief and maybe a Soul Reaver now SE won't be letting those IP rot. Weird timing though, selling TR a few weeks after a new game was announced.

I'm hoping for more legacy of Kain now
And hopefully this allows square Enix to actually focus on what they are good at, proper jrpgs.

Sony probably about to buy square enix that why square enix getting rid of the fat.

That seems to be very little money, which just shows that Square has little idea what to do with such games and studios. Hopefully this allows those games to grow going forward

Seems bizarrely low in comparison to others

Sony has to be the most stupid company ever if they pay 7 billions for Bungie and these guys get all of this for just 300 millions

Man, that's pretty cheap. I'm sure MS would have thrown 2 billion for those IPs and Studio, but I guess Embracer had some kind of first come first serve.

Good on embracer group for getting two great studios and a ton of IP’s for a 300mil, i’m Sure Square Enix has already pissed the cash away on dank alfalfa nfts.

Please for the love of god, give me a Legacy of Kain game! That is such a great IP just waiting for some attention.

SE clearly had a problem managing those studios so maybe it had to happen.

That being said, out of the big publisher groups, I’d rather it’s Embracer than Xbox or Tencent (and it’s probably best for gamers that it’s not Sony either).

Everything I've seen from SE over the last few years re-enforces my belief that the senior leadership has no idea what's it's doing.

I Think Sony Is Dumb For Not Trying To Buy These Studios Themselves Unless They Have Something Else They Are Trying To Buy.

Reading up on what's being bought. This looks essentially like the old "Eidos" part of SE is being sold. Something that hadn't been a part of SE till the mid 00's I believe...

@Jeaz plus with their recent games being PlayStation exclusive this looks more likely

Only 300 mils for Tomb Raider, Legacy Of Cain (and Crystal Dynamics) and Deux Ex... Really underpriced imo.
Just stands to show how much Square Enix cared about those franchises and studios. Leaving Legacy of Cain out in the cold for so many years is proof enough.
On the other hand, I'm glad this "transition" takes place, maybe now we'll get to see new (and dare I say better) releases in those awesome franchises.

@Shadcai SE has multiple JRPGs announced and not all of them are exclusive to PS (but I guess the "big budget" ones are) - just saying

@themightyant Pretty sure Marvel/Disney has to own the IP - it's a question of how it was licensed to SE.

I'm alright with this as it will keep the games multiplat, better than sony or microsoft snagging them.

@4kgk2 why though? Waste of ***** money now to buy SE

Square Enix about to become Konami

@themightyant @Dezzy70 Thing with VRR in last-gen games on Xbox vs PS is that the Xbox One console did support VRR already, while PS4 didn't - so this would be more than just backwards compatibility on PS5.

Also - I've seen tweets saying it does work with some HDMI 2.0 FreeSync screens but apparently not all of them, so I wonder what's up with that.
Still waiting for that DF analysis to learn more (and for my new apartment to get that big modern TV with VRR).

@themightyant This move is not surprising, but it's also not a good business move. Square have not really known what to do with their western studios. This just seems like a terrible deal along the lines of letting IO interactive go indpendent. With proper management these studios and IP could be really something. Even if we can understand the logic of focusing on the Japanese side of their business, it makes no sense that SE would not be trying to get Microsoft to offer a billion for their western studios. The other question is why keep life is strange and Just Cause?
Surely this shows that Sony are not going to be buying SE. Why wouldn't Sony bag Tomb Raider (it is worth it for the movie rights alone) in a deal for the whole of Square Enix.

People talking as if they know the ins and outs of this deal and bad mouthing Sony.

There is far more to this deal for Square to be sold for that little. Don’t be so bloody stupid with you comments for christ sake.

Does Embracer now have the rights to Sleeping Dogs? Out of anyone to acquire these studios and IP, Embracer are a pretty decent one. I would hate for them to be gobbled up by Microsoft and how likely would Sony be to focus on the smaller IP or dormant IP like Sleeping Dogs?

@4kgk2 Why didn't Sony buy the western stuff? For that price, it was a bargain. Having TR especially as a FP franchise would have been apt.

Makes Bungie seem even more expensive than before, this deal seems like such a steal.

@themightyant
They just don’t seem very consumer friendly
They just want you to buy a new Sony tv with HDMI 2:1. My son a Sony loyalist is a bit pissed he has a 4K HDR tv with his PS5 but only HDMI 2:0.
Also they capped at 48hz not going down to 20hz which helps with 30fps games.

@Jacko11 to be honest the comments here about sony are not that bad really..you obviously have not read some of the comments by some of these posters previously about sony..

@Voltan
This is Sony becoming like their TV market
We had this with their low latency version of Dolby Vision for years until they woke up and changed it.
They just don’t seem to do the obvious and simple things that well lately.

@Fyz306903 Sony already have some of the best western studios in the gaming industry already they want square enix for they’re Japanese studios.

@Jeaz the only mainline Final Fantasy game in the last 20 years that wasn't dragged down by the scars of development hell was the MMO that they had to entirely shut down and spend a year re-making.

@DnBSkillz Sony need more Japanese studio’s not western studio’s.

Maybe now we can get sequel or at least remaster of legacy of kain games? 😃

And I hope squareenix focus making great japanese games like nier automata, octopath travelers, triangle strategy, etc, and stop trying to copy western style games like final fantasy stranger of paradise or forspoken.

@themightyant What I can't believe is why they wouldn't take advantage of a bidding war. I suppose SE do have a pretty decent track record of doing right by their former studios even if it's not the best business move (with IO being the prime example).

@4kgk2 and let MS dominate rest of the markets? Final Fantasy is already a PS exclusive they don’t need SE at this point

Surprised it wasn't Ms (working with CD for perfect dark, the whole tomb raider exclusive thing from rise) or Sony now they're lagging but Embracer is a good fit for getting the old ip's remade and bought to current times.
Also that's an absolute bargain, eclipsing even the insomniac get.

@Widey85 ye they are going the Konami way

@themightyant Finished it few weeks ago and I agree, combat was kinda repetitive and that huddle mechanic needed more work. But story and especially characters were great, game looked really nice as well. Hopefully we will get a sequel in the future, it has a lot of potential.

@4kgk2 Are you thinking that this makes a Sony acquisition of SE more rather than less likely? Tomb Raider is clearly the crown jewel. Maybe Sony would have liked the film rights at least. Maybe they think that Uncharted is going to be bigger, or the two franchises are too similar? Sony don't tend to want to take over badly run studios. It surprises me that Microsoft wouldn't scoop up Tomb Raider, but I'm glad that they didn't.

Square Enix have at a stroke cut my interest in their games in half.

Square lost a ton of value doing this in my eyes. I’ve never really cared for Final Fantasy. I hope Sony doesn’t waste money on them now.

In the current market, this seems like a steal! Square seems in such a strange place, the weird AA to indie level games they showed at the last sony showcase, inability to manage western studios both under square and as a publisher (the outriders team didn't even know how many copies of their game had sold, the mess they made of hitman for IO never mind saying any western studio game underperformed) and letting some really valuable IP go for a cheap deal. Microsoft or Sony would have surely paid double or treble that!

@Apfelschteiner uncharted make tomb raider look low budget in my opinion. I think Sony looking for more Japanese/Asian and multiplayer studios over Single player western Studios which they’re already have enough of.

@themightyant At the same time that Microsoft have been making some pro-consumer choices, their anti-consumer practices have been largely ignored and Sony in comparison has been harshly treated for their bad choices, but not really praised for their good choices. It was probably the opposite in the last generation, but for some reason there has to be a narrative for the games media and also among gamers rather than taking each policy on its own merits.

@Widey85 was thinking the exact same thing. Human revolution was in my top 10 games on ps3 and I really liked Mankind divided too. Would be great to get another sequel

Sorry to be a bit contrarian but I think the price is ok-ish. Although this does suggest their financial situation isn't that great after a few big fiscal flops.

$300 million for mostly dormant or lost their way IPs seems reasonably fair to me. They are also probably unhappy with Crystal Dynamics after the Avengers game (although you could argue it was weird they made it in the first place).

Sony paid less than $250 million of the entirety of Insomniac. But the counter argument is nonsense like $1 billion for Sumo Digital.

@themightyant Take2 were about to buy Codemasters before EA swooped in with a higher offer. Maybe this isn't all over, or maybe the circumstances are just different.

@pumpkin_head I guess the difference is that Sumo digital is a very well-run business with a big head-count of staff. Maybe the value is more about the people than the IP because Bungie don't have any IP that compare to Tomb Raider.

@themightyant Same thing came to my mind during my playthrough. Like you wrote, probably came as an idea late in development or they came up with the core idea and didn't know how to expand it. They should record a ton of different speeches at least. I heard some of them three times at least and I wasn't really using that feature.

Awful business by Square Enix - and why on earth didn't Sony bring Lara home for that tiny sum. Crystal dynamics and Eidos montreal would have paid for themselves.

I don't have much faith in Embracer group either so we'll have to see what happens with this beloved ip - but this seems a bonkers move by all involved. Not happy with Square, i'm not happy about this move and push to blockchain

I'm actually glad about this. I don't like Sony or Microsoft buying everything because they have a platform to sell and the games would be 'console exclusive' to PlayStation and Xbox.
Atleast this way the games remain multiplatform.

This is why I don't see what all the fuss is about with Tencent, Disney, Amazon etc buying studios, presumably they remain third party multiplatform and that would be preferable?

@GADG3Tx87 they still could make a deal to make a game/s to be on one platform
Edit :Taken from embracers
website

Embracer’s base case financial plan implies that the combined acquired companies will be breakeven or have a smaller Operational EBIT contribution to the upcoming two financial years driven mainly by sales of the back-catalogue titles. This could change positively if the company decides to enter a deeper strategic relationship with one or more platforms around the upcoming pipeline.

These games are better than anything Bethesda and bungie developed for only 300m$!?

No sales number for any games seems to satisfy Square but they sell a part of the portfolio and studio for just 300M?

Will everyone accept that it's not just 300 milion they also will take on the debt of these companies which could b any amount ,square will get 300 million and the debts moved over to embracer

They could b 12 billion in debt for all we know

@Martsmall
I see. I suppose yes, there could be third party exclusive deals, that does happen. But probably more towards unlikely since unless the platform holders throw a huge sum of money at them they'll want as much profit as possible.

I'm just glad either way that it's not one of the other two, atleast we all have a better chance of playing their games. All this talk of 'Sony needs to buy this' and 'Xbox needs to buy that' it upsets me personally because they'd be restricted to one console (PC doesn't count in my eyes).

@themightyant I consider the whole push towards a subscription model to be a major threat to the viability of premium games (i.e. games that are worth playing). Microsoft has also triggered the mass-acquisitions and part of that has not been forthcoming with which games will be exclusives. There are lots of little examples that people don't remember or don't mention. Xbox was about to raise the price of game pass (it was right to do so, like Sony was right to charge extra for PS5 upgrades, but Sony got a lot of stick for that).

@GADG3Tx87 Amazon could make games exclusive to their platform if they still have one, aside from that Amazon and Disney are pretty evil megacorps. Tencent is probably the best of the bunch, but their profits are bankrolling communists and they will no doubt have an influence on chilling free speech. On balance, I would prefer Tencent to buy a company that makes games that I love over Microsoft.

@Dezzy70 @themightyant TVs and VRR have very little to do with the subject of this article. Let's stay on topic, please.

New Deus Ex and Soul Reaver would be awesome

@Apfelschteiner it was gold they were gonna raise the price of NOT game pass and they backed down on that ...Sony didn't when ppl complained so not really the same thing

@Tsushima totally agree ,if they announce a new Deus ex expect happy tears from me lol

That’s a steal for sure if it includes the Tomb Raider IP.

@Apfelschteiner
I don't know much about Tencent but everyone seems up in arms about them. What makes me relieved about them or any other is to not hear the words Sony or Microsoft, then someone always loses out.

I know everyone thinks Disney ruined Star Wars, and the movies were not as great as their previous Saga's but I'm glad that the games are still multiplatform as a result. (I enjoyed Mandolorian though and I think Obi-Wan will be good.)

I forgot about Amazon and their app store, that being said IP's like Tomb Raider surely couldn't be just a mobile game? It's a big AAA franchise. It could even open the door for them to become a publisher, for better or worse.

Either way I'm just relieved that the other two, aren't getting so many big franchises. Microsoft in particular are getting on my nerves buying huge publishers, if they do a huge purchase a third time I hope they get hit with an anti-competitive legislation because the other two (Nintendo and Sony) can't match that spending power.

My biggest fear is Sega, or more importantly Atlus better be left damn well alone. Especially since Atlus seems to be warming up to going multiplatform with the PC release of P4G.

£300 million? That's a absolute steal anf I have to wonder why Sony or nintendo didn't buy them for that cheap.

On the bright side at least those devs games will remain multi platform.

But it does seem like the embracer group are building a portfolio ready for their own streaming platform similar to EA access.

Another positive is that it seems to me like square enix want to go back to fully focusing on JRPG's with no western games under their belt to do now. This means more resources on games like dragon quest, final fantasy, valkyrie profile, star ocean etc meaning faster releases

Always felt that Square Enix were never fully behind the studios in the West, so something like this probably makes sense for both sides, as long as job losses are kept to a minimum.

Embracer need to give Amy a call, maybe tempt her to at least pen a new Legacy of Kain game.

Plot Twist, embracer group are buying all these studios on behalf of Microsoft for a future acquisition of embracer group.

Seriously though, within the next 5-10 years I'd wager Microsoft will buy embracer group

@UltimateOtaku91 it's a steal for square but not embracer as they got the debts of the companies which could b billions ,the 300 is just what square get not whats been paid

They already put out on Thier website that

This could change positively if the company decides to enter a deeper strategic relationship with one or more platforms around the upcoming pipeline.

So no not multiplatform if they get enough money

Definitely didn't see this coming. I think this is probably for the best though. Perhaps now the next Tomb Raider doesn't need to sell 100 million copies for Square to not say "It didn't meet expectations". I also wonder if this means there is renewed hope for a Sleeping Dogs sequel. That would be great!

@GADG3Tx87 The thing about Amazon is that they already don't have a good track record of being a publisher. They've had way too many just straight flops since entering the game industry back in '12. Plus plenty of developers have came out and stated "Amazon is not a great place to make games".

Legacy of Kain done as a souls like game would be fun. Gummi ship gameplay in KH3 makes me want a New Einhander game.

I'm glad it's not a console-manufacturer and I'm glad these franchises might get some new games finally.

I don't think $300,000,000 is that low when with weigh the value of under-utilised IP (which SE constantly say underperform) against the liabilities of a large studio like that which likely doesn't have anything meaningful in production. Staff are, in business terms, a liability, as 1,200 heads it's likely to mean a yearly salary somewhere in the range of $60,000,000 - $180,000,000 plus other on-costs (licenses for professional creative software tend to be per-seat, and also eye-watering). Then you've got any existing debts, etc etc.

It's likely that the IP would have gone for more in its own, but that either there's some sort of legal agreement where some of it belongs to the studios, or neither party wanted to make 1,200 people redundant.

@DualWielding seriously! In comparison, what Sony paid for what they got seems insanely stupid.

Also Eidos own IO interactive which do the Hitman games, so the embracer group will also own the Hitman IP

@UltimateOtaku91
Maybe that could drive Hitman back to its roots. Even since after Hitman Absolution when it followed it new episodic (from what I understand) direction I've been like ehh :/

@GADG3Tx87 Amazon are already a publisher. They also had/have a streaming platform Luna (knowing that obscure knowledge feels like getting a point for a quiz question).
My worst scenario would be Microsoft getting Sega. I love the Yakuza games. I really feel like with the right support and budget that game could sell on the same scale as Sony first party games. The problem would be that Sony appears to have no interest in AA games, and I love what Sega do in that space. I'd love Sony to invest in Koei Tecmo, but I don't want Sony stopping them making their smaller games and censoring the kinds of games that they make.

@Korgon Sleeping Dogs is up there as one of the best open-world games of all-time. That games kept me engaged right up to the platinum after which there was literally nothing left to do.

@UltimateOtaku91

IO Interactive is an independent game developer, the creator of Hitman and currently also working on Project 007, the next James Bond game.

Only my Opinion, but I would not be surprised if this had something to do with a Sony acquisition coming up. Sony would be most interested in Final Fantasy and whatnot, and dropping the asking price due to less studios/IPs to aquire would make things more straight forward in that respect!

@GADG3Tx87 I quite like how it went, I prefer the new games than the old I just think the price for everything is soooooo high

Anyway they don't own the company so prob no rework

IO Interactive is an independent game developer, the creator of Hitman and currently also working on Project 007, the next James Bond game.

@Areus ah didn't know that, I remember square enix saying they wanted to sell them years ago but no one bought them.

Atleast it wasnt microsoft.

@Apfelschteiner
Yeah, I didn't know that either.

As for Sega, if anyone were to make a bid I'd prefer Nintendo, they work closely together and would be the best fit. I'd prefer them to stay independant' though and hope to god they do.

Yakuza is an awesome series. I thought I wasn't going to like 'Like a Dragon' when I heard about the new combat system but I LOVED it! Absolutely amazing game and a breath of fresh air.

I've got the platinum to Yakuza 1-7 now which I'm a little proud of.
Persona is another I couldn't bear to lose out on, one of my favourite series of all time.

Y'know, last month I spotted the PS2 copies of Persona 3&4 sitting behind a glass case in CeX, it was slightly under a shelf and obscured so all I could see was a yellow label, I gasped and yelled out "OMG IT CAN'T BE". I literally ran to the counter like a madman with arms flailing almost tripping over people to claim them. Got to the counter struggling to breath and just went "Yeah, them Persona games in the case? I want 'em".

@pip_muzz Beat me to it,but agree,what little parts of Eidos still existed within Square Enix seem to have been picked up relatively cheaply when you think of the big money XB/Sony deals!
In theory it'd be great to see the likes of Legacy of Kain,Thief etc.,revived or the back catalogue opened up...albeit I guess the main negative that for all the IP's they've picked up,most of the remasters or reboots haven't exactly set the gaming world abuzz like say a Bluepoint remake have. 🤔
That said,no question Square Enix were wasting Crystal Dynamics with cramming live services into everything them throwing them under the bus when the buying public voted with their wallets!

@DualWielding I came in here to say the same thing... But yeah I think Sony must have been desperate for a popular first person shooter after MS snagged Activision and Call of Duty.

@Martsmall
Ah it's them making a Bond game. That's even more of a relief because I thought Xbox had a deal with a new exclusive Bond game. I've been saying for ages we never got one through the PS4 gan and wanted a new one.

So SE doesn't own IO? I thought they did. I've got Hitman 2 from PS+ but never touched it because I was put off by the episodic news, maybe I'll give it a chance. I thought it was also online based and not single player, just the wording confused me so I never touched them.

@GADG3Tx87 they are all single player games ( except one part sniper mode you can do in single and/or multiplayer in hitman 2 if you want achivements/trophy's ) but you do have to be connected online for the challenges to count ( leveling up ) , they are good I went the stupid way round played hitman 1/2/3 before jumping in the older games and I'm not liking the older ones at all

Well this is a surprise, and a decent purchase.

Great, another corp that's going to monopolize IP's. Square had legacy of kain for how long? This is the first time i'm hearing that IP mentioned in around a decade.

@Apfelschteiner
Agreed I really liked it a lot too. It's a shame United Front games aren't around anymore. That was a talented studio.

As long as the games still comes to PlayStation console im cool with it.sony is making moves also.they about to buy more studio aquisitions.word up son

@GADG3Tx87 That's hardcore getting platinums for Yakuza 1-7. I only have the platinum for 6, which incidentally was my first Yakuza game, is my favourite, and was the easiest platinum to get from the lot. I must not be that far off of the 0 platinum, but I decided to catch up on the series and play through the story and substories of the other games and Judgment games before I come back around to finish off some plats (ideally for all of them). I especially want the Isshin plat. I own all PS4 Yakuza games, but I lost interest when it was confirmed that Yakuza 7 would be turn-based. Aside from the essence of the Yakuza games being fast kinetic action that leaves your heart pumping, I just don't like most turn-based combat. I played the demo for 7 and I love the sound of the story, but the combat is so dull to me. It's cool to see those animations first time, but It soon got dull. I did like final fantasy XV, so hopefully the combat gets adjusted for Yakuza 8. The other problem I had with 7 was that it was not fully-voiced like 6 was. It felt like such a downgrade. I'm going to get round to 7 eventually and grin and bear it (maybe I might even learn to enjoy it), but I don't feel any urgency to catch up. I was just getting back into 4, but then I got a PS5 and now Nioh 2 ultimate edition, Ghost of Tsushima, Kena Bridge of Sprits, Lost Judgment, and probably Stray and Cyberpunk 2077 are ahead of Yakuza 4 for me now.
I'm excited to see what the new leadership of Ryu ga gotoku studio will do in future.

@Rob_230

How's it bad business by square if anything it's bad business by Sony that they didn't get this for the steal of a price it's even more of a bargain when he think of what they paid for bungie!

With this and the poor management of new plus a bunch of chimps could do a better job that Jim Ryan

It is really funny those who want Sony too do this are now saying how things like this are evil and bad for gaming , fanboys and there double standards , at least here these games will remain mult platform . Which they have a problem if it was Microsoft had bought it but if it's Sony that's ok

What's going on guys?

Oh.

Well it seems Square Enix is turning into *****. It's all FF from here and out guys!

@Bismarck
I just mean it's not a console and they pretty much get everything anyway. That's why 'it doesn't count'.

@suikoden I wouldn't put money on them being multi platform,it's highest bidder time once they own them

Embracer’s base case financial plan implies that the combined acquired companies will be breakeven or have a smaller Operational EBIT contribution to the upcoming two financial years driven mainly by sales of the back-catalogue titles. This could change positively if the company decides to enter a deeper strategic relationship with one or more platforms around the upcoming pipeline

Oh jeez ...Here we go again.

@GADG3Tx87 Consoles get most of the games released during their lifespan. PC gets 99% of all software ever created since it was created. This includes emulators and streaming services. Stop being so ignorant.

70 billion for Activison seems a rip off now

@suikoden didnt say it was bad for gaming. I am pleased that these titles will presumably stay multiplatform (pending any deals that get made on the side) and i certainly didnt mention microsoft.

My only reference to Sony was that Tomb Raider has traditionally been linked to Sony so its a missed opportunity for what is a small amount of money, particularly given what they spent on bungie. And crystal dynamics and Eidos Montreal are solid development teams that would have complimented the the playstation ecosystem

Its bad business for Square Enix in my eyes, because i dont believe that the ip - and more importantly the talent they have let go - is not worth more - particularly in this climate where - yes, the likes of Sony and Microsoft- are throwing silly money at game studios. Particularly given Square are investing the money into an area of the gaming business that alot of their core audience have been very clear they dont want them to go into.

Im glad these IP are gone from square they wernt going to do anything with them so now we might see more legacy of kain, deus ex and tomb raider remasters' remakes and new games

square didnt make money out of most of the games releases by these studios despite how good the actual games were

@Bismarck
I pretty much just said that. When either Sony or Microsoft buy a dev or publisher one of the consoles will lose out and PC doesn't, that's why PC doesn't count in the comparison.

Why are you so hostile? What's your problem? And call me ignorant?

I used to game on PC when I was younger but have less patience for it now, I'm not ignorant, and I happen to have worked in the industry due to my Cisco certifications. And saying anything perceived against PC isn't racist btw, gamers and gaming platforms are not a race. That's the problem with fanatics, you're too obsessed.

Seriously, chill out dude, Sheesh.

First thing Embracer should say to Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal is assure them that they will have realistic sales expectations unlike square who assumed that every game would challenge GTA 5

I hope this allows us to see those IPs come back. I know they're making a new Tomb Raider game but I would like to see the others return.

@Widey85 I loved the last two games. Here’s hoping they revive the series.

@Bismarck

Platform racism?

God damn the gaming community is weird.

@Bionic-Spencer Why should Sony or us want Sony to buy square enix? For FF? They're already exclusive.

@RevGaming
I actually thought he was joking at first until I saw his comment history of pretty much being an aggressive PC fanboy.
Wow, just wow, that's extreme fanaticism on another level.

Well let’s hope Square Enix isn’t the next Konami in the making.

@GADG3Tx87 why would a PC centric guy hang out in these forums? Even on PXB or Nintendolife. Consoles aren't his thing.

@UltimateOtaku91 Apparently IO Interactive raised up the money and bought themselves off SE.

@RevGaming
Who knows. 🤷‍♂️
I mean I've considered building a new PC for myself because of all the consolidation going on, as I said to him, console gamers have something to worry about when one of the platform holders buy something, PC does not.

And look how he reacts. Racist? Really? Looking at his comment history, how he hasn't been banned yet I'll never know.

I really don't want to build a new PC again but considering I want to be able to play all the games I might have to, we'll see how bad the situation gets. It's depressing to say the least when you hear of MS or Sony buying something.

That price seems oddly low. Embracer Group is a bit of a mystery to me, so I can't tell whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

@4kgk2 I would say the Tomb Raider games are more fun than the Uncharted games (UC1 & 2 being the exception). UC3 was the beginning of the decline and quite dull outside of a few spectacular set pieces. UC4 even more so. Lost Legacy was much more enjoyable though tbf - a return to form. But yeah, the Tomb Raider games don’t seem to have that pretentious air about them that nearly all of Naughty Dog’s games have post-TLoU Pt1.

Surprised they would split their company down and 'limit' their western reach. I know FF is popular, but most other games are 'niche' titles outside of Japan.

After seeing what they are intending to do with the money and the way they operate, I can only imagine that CD, Eidos and SE Montreal (until that name changes) will be much better off. They could 'never' sell enough copies for SE to be happy (always selling less than expected) and certainly didn't appear to treat the Balan Wonderlands creator very well - sacking him 6mnths before it released and then rushed it through...

SE have been on a 'big' downward trajectory to me for years with miss-step following miss-step, Insistent on NFT's no-one wants, angering their Dev's etc etc. At least I know I won't be buying any SE published games in the near future as I can't stand Final Fantasy (or JRPG's) and the 'only' SE games I have purchased in the last 10yrs or so have been the Tomb Raider Trilogy and Guardians of the Galaxy (although should of waited a few months for it to come to Game Pass LOL)

If anything, I think this will 'hurt' SE more - especially outside of Japan, but that could play perfectly into Sony's (or others) hands. Of course MS needs Japanese games (according to the vocal minority) but we all know SE would be a better fit for Sony. Of course there are numerous others that could buy (TenCent, Embracer, EA, Ubisoft, Take Two interactive, Bandai Namco, Capcom, Sega, Nintendo, Warner Bros, Amazon, Apple etc - all of which are competing with each other as Publishers and Game Creators with their own Studios)

As for the Price,they got a great deal for '3 Studio's' and their IP's. Whether or not they also get the Publishing rights to their back catalogue or not, time will tell but they tend to be timed and/or platform specific. In other words, SE could still own the Publishing rights to the Tomb Raider trilogy on last gen hardware, but not a 'remastered for current gen specifically' package.

It still seems like a good deal compared to the price Sony paid for Bungie and Insomniac for 'Studio's' with their IP's they owned. Zenimax and A/B, whilst they may have Studio's, they are also Publishers and own Publishing rights to ALL their games - very handy if you want to put their entire Back Catalogue into Game Pass. In other words, they weren't just buying Studio's and IP's but also Publishing rights too.

If a Publisher 'buys' a Studio, even if they own IPs, that doesn't necessarily mean you also buy all their back catalogue. It just means that any 'new' game they make in that Franchise you now own. So maybe that puts a bit more perspective on the differences in pricing with these Purchases too - inc why Sony were willing to pay $3.6bn for Bungie who has Publishing rights compared to Insomniac for $229m who didn't.

Wow 300 mill is pocket change for sony! surprised they didn't outbid embracer group just for Tomb Raider IP alone, unless they decide to buy Square-enix outright...

Man, this really blows, but as long as Square Enix focuses on top class jrpg's/trpg's I'll remain a fan. Just got done with my first play through of triangle strategy, and boy, that game is amazing. Had to put Elden Ring and Horizon on the back burner for that.

@BritneyfR_ee you know for a while there was something about the last of us games that was irritating but could never put my finger on it..pretentious is exactly that thing..thank you for scratching that itch for me 👍

Wow that’s a great deal for embracer and makes Sonys bungie purchase look like bad value.

I’d have thought Sony would’ve liked to improve on the price to make them theirs but clearly not…

@4kgk2 If Sony we're to buy Square without these staple developers and IPs they would be idiots, but they did make the dumba@# move of buying Bungie for an overpriced 7 billion dollars So theirs no telling what dictator Ryan has up his sleeve next.

@DualWielding Couldn't agree more. They paid damn near what MS paid fir an entire publisher. With Sony ran by Ryan its slowly headed in a downward spiral. Scared to see where their at in 5 years.

Are SE selling the studios or the IP these studios worked on as well? Because 300 m seems way too cheap to give up tomb Raider in this deal

Ok... Tomb Raider is a favorite series of mine. Has been since it started in '96. Does this acquisition hurt the chances of the newly confirmed Tomb Raider game hitting PS5 when it launches?

These studios must be far less valuable then it seems to us fans. $300M for these studios and those IPs seems like a crazy bargain, which tells me either Square wants to cut their Western Studios for various reasons and will take any offer to do so, or their value is just really low.

@Northern_munkey I didn’t realise I was talking about previous comments from other articles. I thought I was referring to the comments in this article…

Obviously you didn’t read and are just making incorrect assumptions…

At first I was mad a yet more consolidation. Then I realized Square abused and underutilized these studios and IPs in the extreme (where's Deus Ex 3?) and Embracer has a better chance of making use of them.

On the other hand this dramatically shrinks S-E. At first I was happy because then SE could be a truly Japanese studio again. But at so much smaller a scale, with so much smaller revenue, they'll depend ever more on the endless FF machine for all their revenue. I'm not sure it will improve their product at all.

"Sony should buy Square" is dead. It's a Japan publisher now, and Sony's not interested in that so much, they just killed their Japanese studios. Not that I wanted Sony to buy them anyway.

The worst news out of the deal is that it sounds like Square is going full Konami at this point. They sold off most of their studios, except their cash cow FF/MGS, and are putting the money into investing in to fintech schemes and AI.... So, basically largely exiting the games industry.... I hope (real) FF and DQ survive. That's about all they've got left, but I'm not optimistic.

@Widey85 sad to see a juggernaut like Square falling so hard, especially after failures like Balan Wonderworld (including behind the scenes) and Babylon Fall.

@Jacko11 i was not having a go at you oh salty one...i was just saying the comments in this particular article are not that bad really? Does one need a hug?

Would be great if Sony buys Square Enix and Konami. It would consolidate Japanese companies. Japanese companies own a lot of nostalgic titles. FF 14 is doing very well and in line with Sony's ambition of more live service games. I would want to spend money on Japanese companies rather than Bungie. Only the Tomb Raider is big IP on this list. It is not expensive for Sony or Microsoft but employment of 1100 people can be costly and it may be seen as monopoly if they have further acquisitions in mind.

@Ken_Kaniff They bought Bungie for 3.6 billion, not 7. Some of you will say anything to ***** on Sony.

Already excited for a new Tomb Raider. And a new Deus Ex, Legacy of Kain or Thief would be AMAZING!

Amy Hennig is busy with StarWars, but maybe after they can collaborate with her studio and revive Legacy of Kain.

They can make those 300Million back in a heartbeat with these IP.

Well at least now Eidos won't be restricted by stupid licenses and will be able to make a new Deus Ex or whatever they want to, instead of being wasted on a licensed corridor shooter!

I mean I wouldn't be surprised if Sony buys up Square after this. I mean Sony buying the Final Fantasy Part of Square Enix makes total sense or just the company entirely.

Also Embracer group so far seems to let the studios they buy do their own thing so good on them.

Great Deal and Square enix has turned into something of a cesspool outside of Final Fantasy and their future plans are terrifying to say the least so I'm glad someone snapped then up and Embraced group has been pretty consumer friendly even if it means barebones ports and remasters aplenty

@Northern_munkey but my comment was relevant in relation to people complaining, which was the whole point.

And we’re here having this pointless dialog cause you felt the need add nothing to my comment in reply.

No hugs required buddy, unnecessary interaction in future would do nicely

I don't think Sony is really interested in Square as a purchase. The overwhelming majority of people buy their major franchises on PS platforms already so there's not that much to gain from them.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that the reason that the sale was so cheap was because there wasn't a bidding war for it.

Microsoft would have loved Crystal Dynamics, but probably doesn't want to piss off the FTC.

Sony, of course, would have wanted to invest that 300 million into Epic.

Wow. It's for the best though, these games can stay multiplatform instead going to Gamepass.

@Jacko11 you really are making a whole big issue out of nothing..i'm fully aware you were commenting on the comments in this topic..however i only pointed out that in comparrison to other comments about sony in previous posts by people these were really tame..there was no sleight aimed in your direction..you said i should learn to read but i think you need to learn what context is and when its being applied in conversations..lose the king edward on your shoulder (thats a potato used in making chips.)👍

@AdamNovice Asobi is a small studio and Polyphony (that makes, basically, a Western racing game) is all that remains in Japan. They have shuttered literally all other Japanese development, and other than moneyhatting timed exclusivity on a few Square titles, mostly jettisoned anything Japanese from PlayStation to focus on the mass market western money makers.

I disagree it's more appealing for Sony. While financially, this makes Square a much easier purchase for them if they wanted to buy out Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, Square also has little else now other than legacy content, seems to be shifting away from video games in general (Konami style, or maybe Sega style in merging with Sammy (the other Sammy ), and is now pretty solely focused on Japanese content (it's funny they listed retaining Outriders, the game they claimed made no profits and couldn't pay the devs royalties?!). Maybe it's worth it for Sony to own FF and DQ if it's worth it to buy timed exclusivity of them, but Ryan's PS is very very very focused on the Western mass market, not niche weeb gamers (which...would be us....) If Ryan were to have bought Square, IMO, he'd have been buying Crystal Dynamix, Montreal, etc with almost no interest in the Japanese studios beyond the FF IP.

If Ryan did buy them, we can be sure that most of the legacy of Square's Japanese IPs would die and it would just become an FF machine. Not that they're not kind of already that anyway, but it would solidify it. Even the mediocre CC remake would not happen under Jim's authority.

Not that Square by itself is much better seeing as how it will probably be a mobile NFT mill.

The only positive is that Balan Wonderworld would never have happened, and the world would be a better place for it.

@NEStalgia not true , asobi isn't a small studio any more. they merged what was left into the asobi studio and made them their main japan studio.

Interesting development. I figured Microsoft would have been chomping at the bit for those franchises.

But like another commenter said, it’s likely they are laying low to avoid the FTC getting too involved.

Once the Acti deal clears, Microsoft will probably go back to being the biggest bidders for these sales.

@twitchtvpat "what was left"....there wasn't much though.

a missed opportunity for sony! sony should be ashamed it did not get in on this firesale. now, we will never see a deus ex game with sony at the helm — it would even make warren spector wet his pants. also, we will never see a nathan drake cameo in a tomb raider game. the missed opportunites here are countless.

@Northern_munkey yikes. Could have done with a TLDR there cause I fell asleep halfway through. Yawns

@Jacko11 very mature bud

@themightyant I think Lara Croft would be in competition with Drake but who knows.

My dream is for Tomb Raider to be taken back to its roots. A game of puzzle solving and actual Tomb Raiding. This could be very exciting.

I’m just surprised, happily surprised Ms didn’t grab them. At some point Spencer was going on and on about having an Uncharted equivalent and Tomb Raider was the big one.
Maybe they would have made it a FPS 😅
Anyway it’s all good now.

@mucc Sorry I didn't get the exact number. Still a complete ripoff compared to all the acquisitions going on around them.

@Northern_munkey nice one pal

I love how no one has come knocking on Embracer Group's door. They've purchased like hundreds of studios and multiple publishers over last couple of years. They now own like 271 IPs and franchises. In term of just size, and not profit... They're one of the biggest companies in the industry.

But I guess nobody care when you're mainly buying A and AA developers.

Weirdly, I think Square Enix got overwhelmed as it got bigger. It probably lost its direction like Roronoa Zoro by having too many chefs (or Sanji’s) in the kitchen. It’s expectations for higher and more unreasonable as the successes piled up. Maybe this will regroup SE and focus more on JRPG- maybe even a turn base one. I’m just glad FF and Nier haven’t been bought (unless I’m wrong and they’re gone). I would prefer Sony to buy out SE to help build its Japanese studios

If this means more awesome deus ex games I am in, Square-Enix has mismanaged too many western properties.

@Uncharted2007 I wonder the same thing as well. While I wasn't a huge fan of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, I loved the first two in the reboot trilogy enough that I will say I loved the reboot trilogy overall. I was excited when they finally announced they were making another one last month I think.

I don't see why Embracer would buy all of the studios and IPs if they weren't going to use them though, especially Tomb Raider and the fact that they were working on it prior to this. Also, by the time it becomes official, it could be pretty well into development if they didn't just start it shortly before the announcement of a 4th one.

Good news for me now tomb raider is free from them I can finally completely ignore square enix

@DualWielding we could've gotten an official uncharted / tomb raider crossover if Sony weren't doubling down on live service rubbish 🙈

This is actually potentially good news or bad news for the great studios Square offloaded. I'm not sure what the history of embracer's post acquisition priorities are. Hopefully they manage these ips and studios with more care and respect for the iconic franchises they fostered.

On the flipside,,this is all bad for square. It confirms their arrogance and potential financial issues all at once. The fact that they claim they will use this money to further monetization schemes fueld via blockkchain scams is just sad. The consumer base has largely been unified in its rejection of these movements, yet greedy investors and corporate shills continue to hope they can slip this garbage into their products.

I genuinely think this is the final downturn before a free fall level of relevance square has going forward. They will likely hold on with a thread to their existence through FF, and creating a load of monetized spinoff FF nonsense during mainline releases of the series.

Deus ex and Tombraider alone are beloved. Legacy of Kain reboots have been pleaded for for some time. Hopefully getting out from Squares mismanagement will allow these ips to shine once again.

So apart from Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts what else do they have now?

As long as these don't go to evil Microsoft I am ok with this news

@ryanburnsred DQ and Octopath..... And Balan Wonderworld...

And Bitcoin. Lots of Bitcoin.

@NEStalgia Ah yes, I remember now. I'm going to go out on a limb and say they also own Nier and I completely forgot about Forspoken, so they've still got a handful of IPs under their belt.

At first glance, selling these studios was likely a good move. While Square's western studios had great talent, Square never really seemed to have a lot of enthusiasm for them and never really learned how to manage them well (even though some made great games).

However, their justification for selling the studios is just stupid. I'd understand giving them up to free resources to focus more on Japanese games, which are Square's strength and what they've always been popular for. However, giving them up to focus on blockchain crap is stupid.

Waaayyyy overdue for a Legacy of Kain game.

@ryanburnsred

Bravely Default, Nier, Triangle Strategy

@mrbone

If Sony buys Square Enix or other Japanese publishers, it would be very detrimental to Nintendo, so I hope that Japanese publishers will remain independent

@Uncharted2007

The new Tomb Raider game will surely come out for PS5 as well

Im glad they're separating the japanese ips from the western ones , barely got into those western games so i hope they continue focusing on their trademark jrpgs.

@themightyant You are nice enough for not spoiling anything thanks. But i really believe thats the reason and buy Lara Croft when you have the of Nathan and just give her her own adventure. 😁

wow, sony fumbled HARD. imagine TR under sony’s umbrella…

Hope for legacy of kain and deus ex now that they won't be forced to work on marvel games.

There’s been a few vampire games in recent years, but who’s ready for an hd 60fps new ‘Legacy of Kain’ game?!