Mega-corp’s ongoing restructuring efforts in wake of failed $2bn deal looks likely to hit more storied studios
Following thesudden closure of veteran Saints Row devs Volitionearlier this month, the next storied video game studio owned by mega-conglomerate Embraver Group to be facing an uncertain future isBorderlandsmakers Gearbox Entertainment, a new report claims.
That rapid expansion is now being followed by widespread restructuring as Embracer recovers from a reported failed deal with the Saudi Arabian-backed Savvy Games Group said to have been worth $2 billion, which also saw the company take a share price hit of more than 40% after it collapsed. Embracerannounced in Junethat it would be closing further studios, cancelling a number of unannounced games and laying off staff as the result of the restructure.
Among the many, many studios and series owned by Embracer are Crystal Dynamics/Tomb Raider, Dambuster/Dead Island, Eidos Montreal/Deus Ex, Coffee Stain/Goat Simulator, Tuxedo Labs/Teardown, 4A Games/Metro, Ghost Ship Games/Deep Rock Galactics,Alone in the Darkand TimeSplitters, along with non-games arms including board games giant Asmodee and comic publishing house Dark Horse. All in all, Embracer’s, uh, embrace includes more than 130 studios, almost 17,000 staff and hundreds of familiar franchises.
Embracer’s share prices have risen in the wake of the rumoured Gearbox sale, which Reuters’ sources stressed was still in the stages of discussion and therefore not guaranteed to happen.
Perhaps Embracer’s recent troubles will finally teach the games industrya much-needed lesson about consolidation. Then again, given that the record $69 billion Microsoft-Activision Blizzard mergerstill looks likely to make it through the courtsin the coming months, maybe it won’t.
