THQ Nordic’s parent company Embracer Group is once again expanding with new studio acquisitions. This time the company is doing so with eight, yes eight, different companies at once. Embracer Group’s latest list of acquisitions includes: 4A Games, DECA Games, New World Interactive, Palindrome Interactive, Pow Wow Entertainment, Rare Earth Games, Sola Media, and Vermila Studios. Arguably, two of the most interesting purchases are 4A Games, the team behind Metro, and Insurgency: Sandstorm developer New World Interactive.
4A Games already has an extensive relationship with Embracer Group, given its ties to Embracer-owned publisher Deep Silver. The Metro team, which spans two studios in Malta and Ukraine, are becoming further embedded within the family via Embracer Group’s Saber Interactive operating group. Such a move will see 4A functioning as an independent developer under Saber, allowing the latter to strengthen its “development capabilities” in Ukraine.
In fact, the newfound bond is already being put to work. The two are collaborating on a project that takes advantage of 4A Games’ AAA production and technological know-how and Saber’s live operations and multiplayer experience. Interestingly, 4A is also developing a new AAA IP, one that “leverages its decade of experience on developing the Metro series.”
DECA Games works with free-to-play titles, acting as a “mobile asset care and live operations expert.” Its expertise should allow Embracer to build a more diversified portfolio of mobile properties, while additionally using existing mobile properties as a test bed for the free-to-play model.
Insurgency developer New World Interactive joins Embracer through the Saber Interactive label, as well. New World’s team of 40 based in Colorado will operate independently under Saber, as it works through the production of an unannounced new IP. In addition, New World and Saber are hard at work on bringing Insurgency to consoles in 2021.
Palindrome Interactive is a Skovde, Sweden-based team that joins Embracer through the company’s Amplifier Game Invest group. Palindrome’s 14 staff members continue to work toward finishing development on the strategy game, Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars. Amplifier Game Invest took partial ownership of the studio in 2017, but just purchased the company’s outstanding 50 shares.
Pow Wow Entertainment boasts a team of 20 operating out of Vienna, Austria. It’s known for multiplayer action title Misbits, and joins the Embracer family through THQ Nordic. At present, the Pow Wow crew has its hands full with two unannounced projects, one of which is a THQ Nordic-owned IP. The other game takes the form of a “roguelike multiplayer platformer set in a constantly changing world.”
Rare Earth Games represents another Vienna developer. Its made up of industry veterans whose expertise rests in producing action-centric multiplayer experiences for consoles, clouds services, and PC. Embracer’s acquisition of Rare Earth sees the latter enter the fold through Amplifier Game Invest.
As a “sales agent” of international movie and TV rights for family-friendly products, Solas Media enters Embracer’s ranks under the Koch Film label.
Lastly, Vermila Studios is being brought into Embracer Group via Amplifier Game Invest. Vermila currently consists of a team of 10 staff, which works out of Madrid, Spain. Presently, the crew remains hard at work on Crisol: Theater of Idols–a first-person horror adventure.
[Source: Embracer Group via Gematsu]
