Are you surprised?
Square Enix has made the decision to sell of their western studios, specifically Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal, to Embracer Group. They claim the sale will allow them to focus more on “the blockchain, AI, and the cloud”.
Square Enix stated the purpose of the transaction in the transfer agreement:
The Transaction will assist the Company in adapting to the changes underway in the global
business environment by establishing a more efficient allocation of resources, which will enhance
corporate value by accelerating growth in the Company’s core businesses in the digital
entertainment domain. In addition, the Transaction enables the launch of new businesses by
moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud. The move is
based on the policy of business structure optimization that the Company set forth under the
medium-term business strategy unveiled on May 13, 2021.
This isn’t terribly surprising, given current Squre Enix president Yosuke Matsuda said the company would be focused on things like the blockchain, metaverse, and NFTs in a new year’s letter.
The sale includes the IPs attached to these Western studios, including Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, Thief, Legacy of Kain, and more (Gex?). Square Enix will be focused more on their other teams going forward, as the document goes on to say.
The Transaction will also provide an opportunity to better align our overseas publishing function
with our organization in Tokyo, revisit the current governance structure and associated reporting
lines, and advance integrated group management with the goal of maximizing the worldwide
revenue generated from future titles launched by the group’s studios in Japan and abroad.Going forward, the Company’s development function will comprise its studios in Japan, Square Enix
External Studios, and Square Enix Collective. The Company’s overseas studios will continue to
publish franchises such as JUST CAUSE, OUTRIDERS, and Life is Strange
If I’m being honest, most of the IP they’re selling off were things they weren’t all that great at managing. Then again, we’re talking about the company that (initially) didn’t want to let Yoko Taro make Nier: Automata, was seemingly genuinely surprised that Bravely Default sold at all, much less on relatively even footing with Final Fantasy XIII-2, and still doesn’t seem to understand why Marvel’s Avengers did so poorly for them (protip: it was launched as a live service game despite that model clearly being bad for it). Hell, when all of those old PS1 platformers were getting remasters, they didn’t seize on that despite owning a series that was big then (Gex, again); then again, Gex definitely had more of a hard shelf life than Crash and Spyro.
The deal is expected to close some time during Embracer’s Q2 2022/2023 financial year, for $300 million.
Source: IGN
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