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Not Embracing Embracer Group: The Thread of Weird Acquisitions

ShakeWell

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
Lord of the Rings, Limited Run Games, and the remains of Toaplan (Tatsujin) were all acquired by these folks this week. What is going on here, and is anyone even cautiously optimistic about how this pans out?

They've created "Freemode," which they say is dedicated to "retro/classic/hertiage gaming" but they talk a LOT about LRG's "Carbon" engine, which is basically an emulator, and I'm quite concerned about where they're going from here. What say you?
 
ASandoval

ASandoval

Old Man Gamer
(he/him)
Parish seemed optimistic, at least in the short term, as part of the deal for LRG at least was to essentially leave typical operations and staff alone. That in and of itself is a step up from the usual shenanigans that happens with acquisitions. It's at least a sign that Embracer is not trying to pump and dump these companies and plans to do something with them. Likewise, saving the KOTOR remake and being partially responsible for Sunsoft's revival project are all good signs for the current future.

As for Freemode, no clue. All I can say is between their interest in LRG, Carbon and they're weird, impossible goal of creating an archive of every video game ever, my very unprofessional opinion on this that the owner/s are game super fans who are investing a ton of money into their hobby which... doesn't sound super sustainable? And even if it is, then this will all be very positive until they're eventually gobbled up by some megacorporation down the road who will then take the axe to it all.

So yeah, cautiously optimistic in the short term, extremely nervous and pessimistic in the long term.
 
ArugulaZ

ArugulaZ

Fearful asymmetry
I say me, I don't know. It's concerning that this conglomerate just appeared out of nowhere, like the Death Star hovering over your planet. "Hey, I didn't notice that before. Sure hope it doesn't vaporize me with a devastating beam of light!"
 
ShakeWell

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
ASandoval said:
As for Freemode, no clue. All I can say is between their interest in LRG, Carbon and they're weird, impossible goal of creating an archive of every video game ever, my very unprofessional opinion on this that the owner/s are game super fans who are investing a ton of money into their hobby which... doesn't sound super sustainable? And even if it is, then this will all be very positive until they're eventually gobbled up by some megacorporation down the road who will then take the axe to it all.
Click to expand...

Aren't they already part of a megacorp? Or are we not quite there with Embracer yet?
 
ASandoval

ASandoval

Old Man Gamer
(he/him)
ShakeWell said:
Aren't they already part of a megacorp? Or are we not quite there with Embracer yet?
Click to expand...

If they are, I can't seem to find any information on which one. IGN's history of the company doesn't mention them having ever joined or being acquired; they went from buying and selling comics to game publisher to a holding company in a relatively short period of time. Wikipedia rather unhelpfully has Nordic Games Group as their parent, and Nordic Games Group has Embracer listed as their parent. Closest thing I found was that the Savvy Gaming Group invested and owns 8% of Embracer as a whole, but otherwise they seem, based on my limited research, to be at the top of the chain.
 
Mogri

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
Isn't this the conglomerate that also swallowed Asmodee?

...Yes. Yes, it is.
 
Felicia

Felicia

Power is fleeting, love is eternal
(She/Her)
It might be worth noting that two of the people involved in the game archive, Thomas Sunhede and Martin Lindell, are the authors of an excellent book on Swedish game development history (only available in Swedish right now). They spent a lot of time and effort finding obscure Swedish game creators and interviewing them, making an important contribution to international game history, in my opinion. So while I am still somewhat leery about this whole Embracer thing, at least two of the people involved in their archive seems to have their hearts in the right place.
 
ShakeWell

ShakeWell

Slam Master
(he, etc.)
ASandoval said:
If they are, I can't seem to find any information on which one. IGN's history of the company doesn't mention them having ever joined or being acquired; they went from buying and selling comics to game publisher to a holding company in a relatively short period of time. Wikipedia rather unhelpfully has Nordic Games Group as their parent, and Nordic Games Group has Embracer listed as their parent. Closest thing I found was that the Savvy Gaming Group invested and owns 8% of Embracer as a whole, but otherwise they seem, based on my limited research, to be at the top of the chain.
Click to expand...

I'm saying that Embracer, as a whole, IS a megacorp.
 
Sarge

Sarge

hardcore retro gamin'
Yeah, looking at all their acquisitions, I'd say Embracer is a megacorp. Whether that's good or bad, though, remains to be seen. I don't know enough to have a concrete opinion.
 
Mogri

Mogri

Round and round I go
(he)
Staff member
Moderator
Asmodee is a megacorp, and Embracer acquired them, so...
 
Becksworth

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
Becksworth said:
Considering the press release mentioned crypto as part of a word salad including other gaming investment buzzwords like THE CLOUD, I'm not sure we should take the idea that Square Enix sold Eidos specifically to fund Blockchain games too seriously, as opposed to this being PR and more polite than saying they are divesting themselves of a studio that has become a major long term burden, and packaging their IPs with the sale was the only way to get other publishers to bite.
Click to expand...

Better to let Embracer lay people off, eh Square?
 
ArugulaZ

ArugulaZ

Fearful asymmetry
Evidently, Sega is set to purchase Rovio, the people behind Angry Birds. I feel like that franchise fell out of fashion a decade ago, and Rovio doesn't have much else under its belt.
 
Becksworth

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
Yeah, Rovio's success very much seems like a "right place at the right time" deal. Not sure what mobile expertise they are bringing to the table Sega doesn't already have.
 
Torzelbaum

Torzelbaum

????? LV 13 HP 292/ 292
(he, him, his)
Or maybe we'll have a combined Sonic and Angry Birds movie for the 3rd entry in both of those series.
 
RT-55J

RT-55J

space hero for hire
(He/Him + RT/artee)
Pretty sure Rare and Crystal Dynamics have managed to keep their hands on those.
 
LBD_Nytetrayn

LBD_Nytetrayn

..and his little cat, too
(He/him)
ShakeWell said:
I'm legit surprised there wasn't an attempt at a Gex resurrection (Gexurrection?) right when the Spyro and Crash collections were hitting and getting a lot of praise.
Click to expand...
Still hoping Capcom is just being slow to ride that wave with Mega Man Legends.
 
Kazin

Kazin

did i do all of that?
(he/him)
I'd like a remake* of the Legends games, personally, just to give them slightly better controls - at least the first one, anyway, since that's the only one I've played and never beat lol. Please don't ban me for this

*though obviously, for extant fans, a sequel to finish the story would be preferable of course
 
Patrick

Patrick

Magic-User
(He/Him)
I played a few minutes of MML just to see if it worked on my Vita. I was surprised at how rough the controls were, in contrast to the level of praise the series gets. I’m planning to go back to it, at some point.
 
Kirin

Kirin

Summon for hire
(he/him)
I mean, the first one came out very early in the history of 3rd-person polygonal action games and shooters, just a year after Mario 64 and Tomb Raider. The kinks just hadn’t been worked out of the genre yet.

And yeah, I wouldn’t be at all opposed to a remake that updates the controls and handling as long as it stayed true to the aesthetics and such.
 
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