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Embracer Group buy the whole of Middle-Earth, plus seven more games companiesOne gaming giant to own them all
One gaming giant to own them all
It’s a running gag that Swedish conglomerate Embracer Group regularly buy up large chunks of the games industry, but now they’ve only gone and bought a whole universe. Embracer have acquired the rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’sThe Lord Of The RingsandThe Hobbitproperties from long-time owner The Saul Zaentz Company. That includes games, along with movies and other media content, folks. Ol’ Embracer have also acquired seven companies within the gaming realm.
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The total upfront cost of Embracer’s latest acquisitions is SEK 6 billion (£480 million), with an estimated further deferred cost of SEK 2.2 billion (£175 million) if targets are met. I think that’s about how much my golden superyacht cost in total. Embracer said the acquisitions will strengthen their portfolio – I’m not making this up, theyreally did– with “profitable IPs and franchises”. There’s even another gaming-related acquisition mentioned in that investor statement that they haven’t made public yet due to “commercial reasons”.
Through Freemode, Embracer have also acquired Japanese arcade specialistsTatsujinand the back catalogue of their founder Masahiro Yuge from Toaplan studio. Sweden’sBitwave Games, another acquisition, are bringing Toaplan’s shmups to PC. Embracer also announced that Freemode have acquired gaming accessory manufacturersGioteck.
The consolidation of the games industry continues apace. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to colonise Mars in my purpose-built rocket ship. Ta-ra!
