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The Rise and Fall of Embracer (aka THQ Nordic)

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Arcane
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Codex 2014
Apparently THQ Nordic snatched developers from Bohemia Interactive and founded a new studio called "Ashborne Games", focus on "Simulation, Strategy and RPG genres". (They sure love RPG and strategy, eh?)



On top of this, domain listings suggest there will be two more new studios called Alkimia Interactive (not announced but already listed in Embracer website, based in Barcelona) and Hivemind Factory (or maybe this is a name for some kind of management game).
 

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Arcane
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Alkimia Interactive (not announced but already listed in Embracer website, based in Barcelona)

Not the same people making the Gothic remake?

Oh yeah, it must be.

Logo for reference:

2dSCvZJ.png
 

Citizen

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It’s a simple task in concept, but trying to execute it is some of the most unfun and Sisyphean gameplay in recent memory. [...] These kinds of gameplay barricades are common, and force you to restart and face your demons again, and again, and again.

"Face your demons"

images


Bitch this is a fun game for children with barely challenging platforming puzzles, how much soy do you need to consume to get PTSD from sponge bob
 

thesecret1

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Please, stop making fun of the Spongebob guy. Give him some slack, I mean, he is obviously retarded.
I think he simply hates video games. Being a gaming journo was probably the only job his ass could land, except he hates games. So now he tries to speed through a part of the game large enough to give the impression he played it, and gets infuriated by anything that slows him down in this. He then proceeds to take these annoyances and inflate the wordcount with them. It's a common pattern among gaming press, actually, and is why walking simulators get their praise – they are usually short, and provide basically unlimited bullshit to vomit on page. You are free to spend half the review pondering "deep symbolism" of the game and similar crap while spending minimum amount of time actually playing the game – the review will be finished quick and easy. Perfect for a journo.
 

karoliner

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https://www.gematsu.com/2020/11/emb...udios-quantic-lab-snapshot-games-sandbox-stra

Embracer Group acquires 34BigThings, A Thinking Ape Entertainment, IUGO Mobile Entertainment, Mad Head Games, Nimble Giant Entertainment, Purple Lamp Studios, Quantic Lab, Snapshot Games, Sandbox Strategies, and Zen Studios

10 new companies, including eight studios, join the THQ Nordic parent company.
ryb4e55.jpg


THQ Nordic parent Embracer Group has acquired 10 new companies, including eight game studios. The full list includes: 34BigThings, A Thinking Ape Entertainment, IUGO Mobile Entertainment, Mad Head Games, Nimble Giant Entertainment, Purple Lamp Studios, Quantic Lab, Snapshot Games, Sandbox Strategies, and Zen Studios.
Here is an overview of each acquisition:
34BigThings

34BigThings is the developer behind the Redout franchise. The developer and its team of 28 staff based in Turin, Italy join Embracer Group through its Saber Interactive label.
34BigThings will be supported in developing and launching original games on more platforms as a component of Saber Interactive’s comprehensive strategy.
A Thinking Ape Entertainment

A Thinking Ape Entertainment is the developer behind mobile games such as Kingdoms at War and Casino X. The Vancouver, Canada-based studio joins Embracer Group through its DECA Games label.
IUGO Mobile Entertainment

IUGO Mobile Entertainment is the developer behind mobile games such as PvPets: Tank Battle Royale and The Walking Dead: Road to Survival. The developer and its team of 86 staff based in Vancouver, Canada join Embracer Group through its DECA Games label.
Mad Head Games

Mad Head Games is the developer behind the Mystery Case Files and Dark Parables series. The developer and its team of 130 staff across four offices in Belgrade and Novi Sad join Embracer Group through its Saber Interactive label.

Mad Head Games will continue to operate as an independent game developer under Saber Interactive, with continued leadership by its three founders.
Nimble Giant Entertainment

Nimble Giant Entertainment is the developer behind the upcoming Quantum League. The developer and its team of 75 staff join Embracer Group through its Saber Interactive label.

Nimble Giant Entertainment will continue to operate as an independent studio under Saber Interactive, as well as collaborate in their continued focus on developing strong PC and console games.
Purple Lamp Studios

Purple Lamp Studios is the developer behind SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated. The developer and its team of 38 staff join Embracer Group through its THQ Nordic label.

Purple Lamp Studios will work exclusively on titles on THQ Nordic’s behalf, where the two companies are jointly working on two upcoming titles currently in development. Purple Lamp Studios’ focus after the acquisition will primarily be centered around developing games based on licensed intellectual properties.
Quantic Lab

Quantic Lab is a Cluj-Napoca, Romania-based software outsourcing company specialized in quality assurance. It will continue to operate as an independent gaming quality assurance and software outsourcing company directly under Embracer Group.
Snapshot Games

Snapshot Games is the developer behind Phoenix Point. The developer and its team of 65 staff based in the United States and Bulgaria join Embracer Group through its Saber Interactive label.

Snapshot Games will operate as an independent studio under Saber, with continued focus on developing premium games.
Sandbox Strategies

Sandbox Strategies is a public relations and influencer relations agency specialized in content creation for gaming and entertainment. Through the acquisition, Embracer onboards an “earned media” group to collaborate on future innovative gaming content creation across the organization.
Zen Studios

Zen Studios is the developer behind Operencia: The Stolen Sun and the Pinball FX series (among other pinball games). The Budapest, Hungary-based developer joins Embracer Group through its Saber Interactive label.

Zen Studios will operate as an independent studio under Saber Interactive, with continued focus on developing premium games.

Damn Boy He Thicc
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
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Codex 2014
Apparently THQ Nordic snatched developers from Bohemia Interactive and founded a new studio called "Ashborne Games", focus on "Simulation, Strategy and RPG genres". (They sure love RPG and strategy, eh?)

While this is not announced this time, that Twitter watcher has been chronicled exodus from Bohemia, three of them (including lead programmer) went to THQ's new studio.
  • Lead Programmer
  • Lead 3D Artist
  • Lead Scripter
  • Lead Animator
  • Lead Character Artist
 

Dexter

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https://www.mcvuk.com/business-news...tion-of-vertigo-games-means-for-the-vr-space/
Copy-of-ArizonaSunshine_KeyArt-660x330.jpg

“We want to engage with people that are serious about VR” – What Koch’s acquisition of Vertigo Games means for the VR space

To quote Richard Branson: “If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.” And the same thinking can also be applied to anyone launching a new games platform. VR technology is undoubtedly exciting, but as Facebook, Sony and Google have found, relatively slow consumer take up has meant championing the space is a long-haul strategy for those with pretty deep pockets.

So what then is the level-headed Koch Media doing moving into the space with its recent acquisition of VR specialists Vertigo Games for €50m of cash and stock? And does the move signify a growing maturity for the segment?

VERTICALLY UNCHALLENGED

For those unfamiliar with the company, Rotterdam-based Vertigo Games is best known for its VR smash hit Arizona Sunshine, A zombie shoot ‘em up it launched back in 2016, generating $1.4m in revenue in just its first month, an incredible figure for the nascent days of the VR segment. Arizona Sunshine has gone on to become a perennial success since launch. It could be considered the GTA V of VR even, selling ever more units with every new tranche of hardware released, and making more money every year along with it. It’s now available on all major headsets, plus the company created an arcade division, licensing a free-roam version of the game to out-of-home VR installations.

Based on that, it also started a publishing arm. Which last year released A Fisherman’s Tale, from Innerspace VR, to great critical acclaim. In other words, Vertigo is on a high and still climbing.

ELEMENTAL TABLE

DSC_5238-300x200.jpg

Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz

Koch Media CEO Klemens Kundratitz has certainly been impressed by its trajectory, likening the company to his own: “When we look at Vertigo they are a bit like a mini Koch in the VR space… I think the organisation is well placed in this very special moment.”

Kundratitz explains that all the necessary elements had come together to make the acquisition work: “There are always a number of components to a decision like this. There is a strategic component, a commercial component, an opportunity component. And in this case, these components aligned.

“On the one hand, we have followed the VR space for some time. And we have always been excited by it, but we had not seen, for us as a company, the commercial opportunity. Now there is this tipping point, where we believe that the new generation of hardware,” referring mainly to the £299 Oculus Quest 2, “will change that picture and grow the market significantly.

“In order to enter a market, you need to enter in the right way and Vertigo are VR experts, they are not only technical experts, which they have proven with Arizona Sunshine and other games, but also commercial experts… they are strong in partnering up with other developers and bringing their games to the market as their VR publisher. That’s the direction we want to go here.”

“So we see this is an interesting entry point into a niche that will grow. And we want to, both on the development and publishing side, grow Vertigo into a substantial force in a growing market and help content providers really make the full potential of their games.

“The other component to the decision is we believe the current platform holders are committed for the long-term, I think that with Sony, Valve and Facebook being there, and maybe other people coming into the space, there are important platform holders. And we are only at the beginning of VR, even though it’s been a number of years in the market, it has a very strong potential to grow far beyond what we see today.”
REACHING FOR THE EYEBALLS

Richard_Stitselaar-300x300.jpg

Richard Stitselaar, CEO of Vertigo Games

It’s no secret, and not that surprising, that some VR platform holders were heavily funding developers to develop exclusive titles, but Richard Stitselaar, CEO of Vertigo Games, tells us that wasn’t a key to his company’s success.

“Our vision has always been, influenced by Valve in a way, to go for all platforms, to reach as many eyeballs in as many headsets as possible. And I think that’s one of the reasons why we’re so successful.”

He notes that some platforms went down an exclusive-based strategy, “they poured a lot of money into products, but then the product needed to survive on that specific platform. But the market was so small, the studios became entirely reliant on the funding they got from [such deals].”

That was the opposite of where Vertigo wanted to be with Arizona Sunshine, which also stood out thanks to breadth and depth of its content. “In the early days of VR, there were a lot of ‘VR experiences’, it was a novelty, you shoot a couple of things, and 15 minutes later, you’re done,” Stitselaar recalls, “And me personally, speaking as a gamer, I want to play games, I don’t want to have ‘an experience.’

“So we went for a full game with six hours of content, multiplayer, co-op, horde mode, the whole package, and I think combining these things together, you can make a lot of money in VR, if everything sort of aligns.”

HEADSETS AS A SERVICE

Kimara_Rouwit-300x300.jpg

Kimara Rouwit, marketing director at Vertigo Games

Arizona Sunshine has made a lot of money, for a VR title anyway, and that was without the kind of forward planning that most modern games benefit from in regards to serving their audiences. As Kimara Rouwit, marketing director at Vertigo Games recalls.

“When we launched Arizona Sunshine, back in 2016, we hoped that it would become the game that it is now… most recently, the numbers are around one in every ten VR players owns a copy of Arizona Sunshine.

“So that was like the dream. But realistically, that wasn’t what we had expected. we didn’t expect this amount of success. So, to be honest, we didn’t really plan for a service model with Arizona Sunshine, because nobody knew how big the player base was that you might be servicing.”

Of course since then, the company has raced to launch DLC and free updates to the title in order to keep the community happy. “I think that scratches what servicing is, but it wasn’t like we went into it with that plan,” Rouwit adds.

That’s all changed now, with the benefit of hindsight and a good idea of the size of the addressable VR market, Vertigo’s next game is coming fully prepared for life after launch. Or rather life after the apocalypse in this case.

“Next year, we have our new game, After the Fall, on the schedule. And that is a title which is very much focused on multiplayer content and also post launch support.” Although Rouwit notes in reply to our query that it’s still a premium title, and a complete game at launch, just with a better thought out DLC and support roadmap.

“Free to Play is probably not the dominant model going forward at this point. VR is still a subset, a rather niche subset, compared to the overall install base of gamers.” A subset that doesn’t yet have the massive numbers, and
massive competition, that engenders free to play.

LAYERING IT ON

Copy-of-After-The-Fall-Key-Art-1-300x212.jpg

Another aspect of Arizona Sunshine’s continued success were numerous ports of the game, Stitselaar tells us: “We’ve basically rebuilt the game three times… actually three and a half times with Quest 2 now.”

Beyond the original version, for Vive and Rift, it was then “built for full room scale, and then for PlayStation VR – with its different tracking systems and a little bit more limitation on the hardware side, a lot of optimization. And finally for Quest, which is basically a mobile device, we had to do it all over again.”

The stark differences between those platforms, and the ongoing rapid evolution of the hardware – remember, the original consumer Oculus Rift was only four and a half years ago and we’ve numerous headsets since then – makes covering them all significantly more work than putting out an indie title on say PC and consoles.

And that’s a problem that Vertigo is now fully prepared for: “With After the Fall, we have this sort of new SDK, let’s call it a technical layer of tools that we’ve built over the years. The programmers will shoot me for saying it like this, but we can basically export to three platforms with a mouse click, but there’s all this technical stuff going on to make that actually happen. But that makes it so much easier to launch a game that runs on all three platforms,” says Stitselaar.

And with that comes a big prize: “One thing I want to point out is with After the Fall, we have cross platform play.”

Cross-platform was something which simply wasn’t possible with the iterative approach to Arizona Sunshine’s release, and something the fragmented player base of VR headset owners really needs in order to achieve the critical mass required for a perennially successful multiplayer title.

Vertigo Games believes that its technical knowhow will make other aspects of its business plan succeed.

“We’re not just a publisher, we’re also a developer… we can offer a developer that we work with all these tools that we’ve been investing in, whether they work with Unreal or Unity, it’s platform agnostic, certain tools, at least. We can say: ‘Hey, we can publish your game, but we can also offer you this technology to speed up your development.’”

And that toolset covers both the consumer and out-of-home markets. “And if you want, we can bring the same game to arcades and generate even more revenue on that side of things. You do a 30 minute unique experience for arcades, with free roam.

“So having that offer makes us unique in the market. And now adding Koch Media we can also use its physical distribution network, if you want to go to PlayStation, or its marketing muscle – they have local offices everywhere. We can scale and make it as big as we potentially want to.”

TWO-WAY STREET

Vertigo Games also allows Koch to add VR to its existing publishing capabilities in a way that simply wouldn’t have been possible had it decided to go it alone. And there’s also the possibility that such expertise could be
called upon by developers at Koch’s Deep Silver arm, and beyond that right across the full Embracer Group, including THQ Nordic and Saber Interactive.

“Yes, there is big interest from various studios now to engage and how that will materialise in VR games, we need to see,” says Kundratitz cautiously. “We run our company in a sort of decentralised way, where the studios have a lot of autonomy on the one hand, but also are part of the family. And we’re gonna play it the same way with VR. Nobody will be forced to do the next game in VR. But on the other hand, if the idea is suitable, if there is an appetite from the development point of view, then we now have great opportunities to not only dream of it, but actually make it.”

We can’t resist naming Metro as a possible target, with the games already having had various mods to get them working in VR:

“Yes, Metro is certainly an important IP that we have, Kingdom Come Deliverance is another big one, Dead Island is a big one. So there are good opportunities in our stable of IPs,” replies Kundratitz. Some tantalising possibilities there for VR, but it is way too early to expect any commitment from those teams.

And Kundratitiz rounds things off with an invitation to developers who are working in VR.

“We want to engage with people that are serious about VR. We believe that VR lives off big games, high-end hardware, and that the immersive experience will ultimately win over a big portion of all gamers… It’s important to underline our commitment to build this publishing portfolio, people should know that we are open for business,

“This is not strictly a sales and distribution type of conversation,” he clarified, “If it’s just exploring ways of what can be done together. We are totally open and welcoming, we want to help.”

So, now you know where to go. And, all being well in the world, we can see Vertigo Games becoming a fantastic addition to the already buzzing Koch and THQ Nordic stand at Gamescom next year.

4A Games are apparently hiring several Gameplay programmers asking for "Oculus Rift/VR experience": http://www.4a-games.com.mt/careers
 
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Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...thq-nordic-is-doubling-down-on-licensed-games

The SpongeBob SquarePants effect: Why THQ Nordic is doubling down on licenses
CEO Klemens Kreuzer discusses the Purple Lamp acquisition and being part of the ever-expanding Embracer empire

The Embracer Group spent the best part of the last decade buying up a wide variety of development studios and games IP, culminating in November's announcement that it had purchased 13 companies -- the firm's biggest wave of acquisitions to date.

Among them was Purple Lamp Studios, the Vienna-based developer behind one of the group's bigger hits of 2020: SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated, which launched in June. The team of 38 is now 100% owned by the game's publisher, THQ Nordic.

Given that Purple Lamp only began working with THQ Nordic in January 2018, it's clear the studio made quite the impression on its new owner, not only bringing the beloved SpongeBob game back to market but also assisting with the Early Access development of The Guild 3.

For THQ Nordic CEO Klemens Kreuzer, Purple Lamp's performance with the SpongeBob project made it an essential purchase.


Klemens Kreuzer, THQ Nordic

"The team was familiar with working with these big licensor companies, and they showed it once again when we collaborated on SpongeBob, where you have Viacom and Nickelodeon people in the background," he says.

"What we liked about Purple Lamp is they have the passion to work on big licences and they're able to deal with those companies -- as you can imagine, some companies can be a bit picky because the IP is one of their major assets. They did the perfect job."

Kreuzer adds the deal was a "no brainer" because the opportunity arose at a time when THQ Nordic had decided to ramp up its efforts in developing and releasing licensed games, for which it needed a team with certain expertise.

"We could either make an offer to the Purple Lamp founders, or start a whole new studio, which takes time to set up and you need to be patient," he says. "Luckily, the team was fired up about joining us so we made the deal in a couple of weeks."

No figure for the acquisition has been disclosed, but Kreuzer describes it as "a good deal for the previous owners and a good deal for us." Purple Lamp is now hard at work on three projects: the ongoing development of The Guild 3, plus two unannounced licensed games.

The landscape for licensed video games was very different when Battle For Bikini Bottom first released in 2003. Tie-ins and adaptations were rife, with much of the biggest IP from the worlds of animation, TV and film appearing in video games on an annual basis.

This has changed a great deal in the last two decades -- as we covered with one prominent example last year -- as IP holders became more guarded with their franchises or turned to the more lucrative free-to-play market on mobile. Those that were still interested in traditional video games have also shifted towards longer projects with higher budgets, resulting in the likes of Insomniac's Spider-Man titles.

But THQ Nordic's current output harks back more to the early 2000s, and Kreuzer believes the reception to SpongeBob's remake proves there is demand for such titles.

"It was a fantastic success for us, with sales of more than one million units -- and I wouldn't be surprised if it reached two million one day," he says. "I think there's a market for those kind of games. The community was so full of joy.

"I think maybe in the licence business there has been a bit too much emphasis on free-to-play and the premium model was not so popular in the last five to ten years. But at THQ Nordic, we're not going for the super AAA stuff where we need millions and millions to be successful. We can do that with relatively low volumes, so that's why we think we can recreate the success we've had with SpongeBob with other licences in future. We're working on some of those right now."


Battle For Bikini Bottom is yet another example of titles tapping into nostalgia for past generations of games

It's not just the licence that drove the success of Battle For Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated, but also the nostalgia it taps into. There is demand for games that hark back to a certain demographic's childhood, as has already been proven with the huge success of the Crash Bandicoot N Sane Trilogy and the ongoing popularity of Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Kreuzer reports this was a significant factor in SpongeBob's appeal, something that was clear to the publisher since the remake's announcement.

"You can see how emotional people are about these games, that they have good memories from their childhood and they really enjoy coming back to those places," he says.

But, he emphasises, THQ Nordic did not purchase Purple Lamp solely to develop remakes and remasters. While there are no details on the two licensed projects it's currently working on, Kreuzer indicates the team will be creating new games in the style of much older ones.

"Remakes will be part of their future projects, but they will also go for sequels based on licenses," he says. "I think the 3D action-adventure platformer genre has an endless life. It may not have been the focus for the past few years, but they're some of the most enjoyable games you can have just sitting at home on your couch, playing for 20 minutes or two hours. It's instant access, and it's fun. That's what gaming is about, entertaining people."

While THQ Nordic is now focusing more on licensed titles, it's certainly not neglecting original IP. One of the publisher's biggest titles of 2021, Biomutant, is due this quarter and is described by Kreuzer as "a release of great importance." The open-world adventure is dubbed a "post-apocalyptic Kung Fu fable," set in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, and has been met with intrigue and anticipation since its announcement.

The game is one of 61 projects currently in development at THQ Nordic, of which only 21 have been announced so far. Kreuzer tells us the current pipeline takes the company up to Summer 2024, and is a mix of licensed, established and original IP.


New IP Biomutant is set to be one of THQ's biggest releases in 2021, as the publisher continues to offer more than licensed games

Of the latest cohort of studios to be brought into the Embracer Group, Purple Lamp is the only one that falls under the ownership and responsibility of THQ Nordic. Most were either purchased by or now positioned under sister company Saber Interactive -- although Kreuzer notes this is only indicative of which opportunities each Embracer firm took rather than the signs of some grand strategy by the group.

"No pillar of the business is pushed into acquiring other businesses," he says. "It's up to us. I said to the Saber guys that they're M&A monsters because they're making so many acquisitions -- it's impressive.

"At THQ Nordic, we've done 42 acquisitions since 2011 -- a mix of assets, companies and deals where we just bought the IP. But in this case, it was suitable for us to only acquire this one target: Purple Lamp. We take things step-by-step. Whereas the Saber guys had a lot of opportunities, which they took."

THQ Nordic is, of course, on the lookout for other potential acquisitions -- "we have a few in mind that we'll start talking to," says Kreuzer -- although there's no specific type of company the publisher is hunting for at the moment. Most of its teams are dedicated to development -- 16 of the 20 business that come under THQ Nordic -- but the CEO is open to branching out.

"I wouldn't exclude [the possibility] that maybe one day we'll make a deal where a publishing entity out there would be a good fit for our THQ Nordic family," he says.

The success of SpongeBob SquarePants, plus its vast back catalogue, actually made THQ Nordic the biggest part of Embracer Group in the organisation's most recent financial results. Through July to September, the publisher made $69.5 million -- over $7 million more than Deep Silver, the usual leader.

THQ Nordic is usually outperformed by Deep Silver and its parent Koch Media, in part due to the higher profile AAA IP the former holds and the broader businesses operated by the latter, such as film distribution. Nevertheless, THQ Nordic remains a major pillar in the Embracer Group -- it is, after all, intrinsic to how the organisation started, with the group also originally called THQ Nordic.

You would be forgiven for thinking this places additional pressure on THQ Nordic -- and Deep Silver, by extension -- to continue delivering million-selling hits in order to drive growth for the whole group. But Kreuzer instead reports the group's structure gives each entity more freedom to organise its line-ups in a way that will most benefit Embracer as a whole.

"We were in the lucky position this time because we had a fantastic line-up in the first and second quarters with SpongeBob, Desperados, Destroy All Humans and Kingdom of Amalur: Re-Reckoning," he explains.

"Next year, it could be different. It could be that Deep Silver or Saber has a super line-up and they take the lead in terms of revenue. We're lucky to be part of a group where one entity or another takes the lead each quarter -- that relieves the pressure, because I can see Deep Silver or Saber has a good line-up so it means I can act a bit cooler regarding our releases and time them a bit better.

"We try to be in the top tier and we're working hard to be there -- not just once, like in the recent quarter, but in the year to come and the year after that."
 

Wunderbar

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https://embracer.com/release/embrac...t-company-and-form-a-seventh-operating-group/

Embracer Group merges with The Gearbox Entertainment Company and form a seventh operating group

Embracer Group AB ("Embracer"), has today entered into a merger agreement with US based The Gearbox Entertainment Company ("Gearbox"). Gearbox, based in Frisco, TX and founded in 1999, has been self-funded by the employees from inception. Post-closing, Gearbox will become a seventh operating group as a wholly own subsidiary of Embracer. Gearbox Founder and CEO Randy Pitchford will continue to lead Gearbox, and Randy Pitchford and the employees of Gearbox will jointly become a significant shareholder in Embracer. Gearbox brings highly creative AAA development studios, North American publishing capabilities and a robust IP portfolio, including critically acclaimed and iconic franchises like Borderlands, Brothers in Arms and Homeworld. On a preliminary basis, based on Embracer’s accounting principles, Gearbox generated net sales of SEK 1,037 million and Adjusted Operational EBIT[1] of SEK 417 million during the nine month period from January 1 until September 30, 2020. In calendar year 2019, Gearbox generated net sales of SEK 1,052 million and Adjusted Operational EBIT of SEK 317 million.

The day one purchase price amounts to USD 363 million in total, on a cash and debt free basis, of which USD 175 million is paid in newly issued Embracer B shares (the “Closing Consideration Shares”) and the residual in cash. Subject to fulfilment of agreed financial and operational targets in the next six years, an additional consideration of maximum USD 1,015 million may be paid, of which a maximum of USD 360 million in issued Embracer B shares (the “Additional Consideration Shares”) and the residual in cash. To earn the maximum consideration, USD 1,378 million the accumulated Adjusted EBITDA, including expensed development costs, must exceed USD 1,300 million over six years.

They've bought Randy.
 

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