Tag: Embracer Group

Embracer CFO Set to Exit as ‘Lord of the Rings’ Owner Reports Rise in Operating Profit, Drop in Entertainment Division Sales

[ad_1]

“Lord of the Rings” owner Embracer Group delivered a mixed bag during its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings Thursday, revealing that while its adjusted operating profit had risen by 56% to 1.4 billion Swedish krona ($132 million), sales in its entertainment and services division – which currently houses its Tolkien and “Tomb Raider” IP – had dropped by 15%.

The Swedish-based gaming conglomerate also revealed CFO and deputy CEO Johan Ekström is set to step down after five years for personal reasons. He will stay with the company until next March although from Sept. 1 he will be focused on splitting Embracer into three companies.

Ekström will be replaced as CFO by current deputy CFO Müge Bouillon while Phil Rogers will take on the role of deputy CEO of Embracer in addition to his current roles as CEO of Crystal Dynamics-Eidos and leader of Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends, one of the three new companies that will emerge out of the shell of Embracer.

Covering the period between Jan. and March 2024, the overall rise in operating profit was driven by the company’s tabletop games division, which delivered sales of over $290 million thanks to a “better product mix,” the company said. While PC and games delivered the second biggest drop in sales after entertainment – falling by 10% — the division still delivered the most sales, bringing in $291 million, driving sales for the group overall.

Mobile games showed a 4% increase, delivering sales of $127 million.

That left the Entertainment and Games as the division with lowest sales, of $118 million down from $139 million, a decrease of 15%. Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors put this down to “fewer new releases and products compared to previous quarters.”

After the quarter it was revealed that two new “Lord of the Rings” films are in the works at Warner Bros Discovery while Embracer’s Crystal Dynamics has inked a deal with Amazon to create new “Tomb Raider” films and series.

In a Q&A following the report, Wingefors said Embracer has a “fair share of the profits” on any “Lord of the Rings” movies set to come out of Warner. “The two movies recently announced a few weeks ago they will obviously have an impact in 2026 when the first movie is released,” Wingefors said. “And the agreement that we have with Warner was struck in the ’90s with New Line Cinema and it’s a beneficial agreement for both parties. It has notable potential royalty streams coming to us. The old movies have generated billions of revenues and we have a fair share of the profits on these so I’m excited. But we will not seen any contribution for that agreement this financial year.”

In the accompanying Q4 report, Wingefors set out his vision for Middle-Earth enterprises, saying: “We see great potential in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ IP and believe the universe can become a key driver in the coming decades, with the aim to delight fans across the globe,” Wingefors said. “New ‘Tomb Raider’ stories in streaming and film will allow us to further nurture and grow another unique IP, taking it to new heights. Strong partners, such as Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon MGM Studios, that complement our capabilities are an important part of our IP strategy.”

Embracer snapped up “Lord of the Rings” in 2022, paying $395 million for the rights to Middle-Earth Enterprises, which houses a range of Tolkien IP, amidst a frenzied two-year buying spree that also included “Tomb Raider” owner Crystal Dynamics, comics company Dark Horse and anime company Anime Ltd.

Following global economic turmoil and a post-pandemic revenue drop in gaming, the tabletop and computer games company has undergone a significant restructure including sales of companies and shuttering of games studios. The Q4 report shows year-on-year headcount has dropped from 16,601 to 12,069.

Last month Embracer said it planned to split the conglomerate into three publicly-listed companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.

[ad_2]

K.J. Yossman

Source link

May 23, 2024
Saber Interactive may escape Embracer’s death hug and become a private company

[ad_1]

Saber Interactive has reportedly found an exit strategy from the death grip of its parent company, Embracer Group AB. Bloomberg reported Thursday that “a group of private investors” will buy the studio in a deal worth roughly $500 million. Saber would then become a private company with about 3,500 employees.

Engadget emailed a spokesperson from Saber for confirmation about the alleged buyout. The studio declined to comment.

The alleged agreement would be one of Embracer’s most significant cost-cutting moves since the collapse of a reported $2 billion deal with a group backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Some criticized the imperiled deal as the gaming equivalent of “sportswashing,” using popular sporting acquisitions and partnerships to boost beleaguered governments’ global images. That followed US intelligence’s conclusion that the Saudi regime murdered The Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi in late 2018.

Other cost-cutting moves at Embracer have included laying off about 900 employees in September, cutting another 50 or so jobs at Chorus developer Fishlabs and implementing more layoffs at Tiny Tina’s Wonderland developer Lost Boys Interactive, Beamdog, Crystal Dynamics and Saber subsidiary New World Interactive. Embracer also closed Saints Row studio Volition Games and Campfire Cabal.

LucasArts / Aspyr

According to Bloomberg, Saber’s sale won’t affect the studio’s role in developing an upcoming Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) remake. That game has already changed hands once: One of Saber’s Eastern European studios took over from Aspyr Media in the summer of 2022.

Aspyr had reportedly already been working on the game for years before providing a demo for Lucasfilm and Sony in June 2022; a week later, Aspyr fired its design director and art director. (Reports of the KOTOR demo costing a disproportionate amount of time and money may indicate a possible reason for the fallout.) By late that summer, Saber had taken over the development of the highly anticipated — and indefinitely delayed — remake.

Embracer bought Saber for $525 million in 2020 as it scooped up gaming studios left and right. It acquired at least 27 companies during that period, folding some of them (Demiurge Studios and New World Interactive) into Saber. Bloomberg reports that the deal to sell Saber to private investors includes an option to “bring along multiple Embracer subsidiaries.”

One studio that’s far too big to be included in this transaction is Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment. However, Kotaku reported Thursday that Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford told staff this week that a decision about the studio’s future had been made. He allegedly said he’d be able to share more details with them next month.

In the meantime, a cloud of uncertainty envelops Gearbox — and Embracer’s other remaining studios. “I’ve personally been looking for roles elsewhere not just due to the Embracer layoff fears, but due to pay,” an anonymous developer reportedly said to Kotaku. “Vague and in a holding pattern is definitely par for the course at the moment and has been for most of 2023.”

[ad_2]

Will Shanklin

Source link

February 29, 2024
Kotaku’s Opinions For The Week November 18, 2023

[ad_1]

Gamers are a passionate bunch, and we’re no exception. These are the week’s most interesting perspectives on the wild, wonderful, and sometimes weird world of video game news.

6 Things To Know Before Starting Persona 5 Tactica

This Is What It Looks Like When A Massive Video Game Publisher Messes Up

Screenshot: Embracer / Kotaku

This is Lars Wingefors, the CEO of Embracer, a Swedish holding company that owns multiple video game publishers, dozens of studios, and employs over 16,500 people. Or at least it used to. Embracer has been laying off hundreds, canceling projects, and closing studios as it reckons with deals that fell through, ambitious bets on big games, and an unprecedented acquisition spree that saw the investor group hoover up everything it could, from the studio behind Deus Ex to the license for The Lord of the Rings. One company to rule them all. That seemed to be the extent of the strategy. Read More

Kotaku Asks: Who Got Snubbed At The Game Awards Nominations?

Photo: Kevin Winter (Getty Images)

This week, creator and host of The Game Awards, Geoff Keighley, revealed which games are in the running for prizes at his showcase in December. Dozens of games were named across over 30 categories. What was missing? Read More

Persona 5 Tactica Tries To Make Up For The Series’ Homophobia

Image: Atlus / Kotaku

I love Persona 5, but over the years, Atlus’ stylish, supposedly socially-conscious RPG hasn’t loved me. Queer Persona fans know the series to be fraught, and even the most passionate among us treat it like the fun uncle who claims to love everyone and still says something extremely out of pocket each holiday. I figured Persona 5 Tactica, the tactical spin-off launching on November 17, would follow all the previous games and find some way to throw a jab at queer people for no reason. But after years of feeling like one of my favorite series has been trying to push me out, Tactica opened the door for me, if only for a moment. Read More

Dear Video Game Industry, Please Name A Woman

Photo: Dean Drobot (Shutterstock)

It’s been nearly a decade since GamerGate, the misogynistic game industry tantrum that harassed women under the guise of demanding journalistic ethics—yet 2023 has felt like we’re not that far past it at all. Read More

Modern Warfare III Multiplayer Is A Helluva Nostalgia Trip

Image: Activision

Say what you will about Modern Warfare III—it was developed in a confusing rush, hence why its campaign mostly sucks, and it’s currently the worst-rated Call of Duty game in the franchise’s 20-year history—but god damn, does its multiplayer make me feel like I’m in college again. Read More

Crash Team Rumble’s Latest Cameo Makes Me Want A New Spyro Game

Image: Activision / Kotaku

I liked Crash Team Rumble. I even said as much on this very website when the brawler MOBA launched back in June. But man, seeing them add Spyro, Crash’s flying, fire-breathing, OG PlayStation platformer contemporary to the roster just makes me wish we had a new Spyro the Dragon game. Read More

[ad_2]

Source link

November 18, 2023
Sony Deletes Mentions Of Troubled Star Wars: KotOR PS5 Remake, Hides Trailer

[ad_1]

Image: Aspyr Media / Embracer Group

A teaser for a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake coming to PlayStation 5 nearly stole the show at Sony’s September 2021 showcase. But reports surfaced last year that the project was already in trouble. Now Star Wars fans have noticed that Sony recently deleted tweets about the game and has hidden the trailer from its official YouTube channel.

Unboxing The Baldur’s Gate 3 Collector’s Edition

Word that the teaser trailer had been removed from PlayStation’s channel first began to spread on September 28 on the Gaming Leaks and Rumors subreddit. Twitter user Crusader3456 later shared a thread showing that Sony’s tweets about the teaser from the original 2021 PlayStation Showcase had also been deleted. The only official mention left appears to be a single tweet promoting multiple games from the livestream.

Screenshot: Sony / Kotaku

It’s possible the highly anticipated KOTOR remake is still alive and this is just some weirdness on the part of Sony’s social media department. It also might be the case that the project, which debuted as a PS5 exclusive, has all but been canceled amid ongoing development issues and massive budget cuts at parent publisher Embracer. Sony and Embracer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Bloomberg reported in July 2022 that the developers has spent a significant amount of time and resources on a proof-of-concept demo that failed to past muster at a review meeting. Several senior leads were let go from the project, and the following month development on the KOTOR remake shifted to Saber Interactive in Europe (Aspyr is based in Texas).

Fast-forward a year, and parent company Embracer is instituting cuts across its sprawling portfolio, including canceling games and shutting down entire studios like Volition, after reportedly losing out on a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia. Aspyr also announced in June that it would bail on shipping a promised DLC pack for its Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 remaster on Switch. A fan is now suing.

A successful remake of KOTOR would be a lynchpin project for any publisher, especially as new Star Wars shows flood Disney+ every year. It would also be an incredibly ambitious and challenging endeavor for even the best studio. It’s not yet clear if Embracer has given up hope on the project. Fans certainly still haven’t.

[ad_2]

Ethan Gach

Source link

September 28, 2023
Amazon’s Tomb Raider Show Reportedly Being Written By Fleabag Creator

[ad_1]

Image: Crystal Dynamics

If you, like me, are having trouble keeping track of all the video game adaptations coming to TV and film, you may have forgotten that a Tomb Raider series is in development over at Amazon. Well, friends, I will not be forgetting about this show any time soon, now that writer/actor/comedian Phoebe Waller-Bridge is reportedly writing the script for the show.

According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Waller-Bridge is attached to the live-action show as a writer, though there’s no word on whether or not the Fleabag star will be in front of the camera at this time. Alongside writing, she’s set to act as executive producer alongside Ryan Andolina and Amanda Grenblatt, who both recently left Amazon to found their own production company, and have worked out further deals with Bezos and co. to work on projects like the Tomb Raider series.

If you’re unfamiliar with Waller-Bridge’s work, she is known throughout the internet for her role as the titular character in Fleabag, a two-season series (also produced by and streaming on Amazon) which is also one of the few examples we have of what perfect television looks like.

Fleabag is two seasons of perfect television.
Image: Amazon

You want to watch two short self aware seasons about a woman trying to claw her way out of emotional detachment and grief? It’s streaming on Prime. Don’t thank me, because it will ruin you for days. Come for Waller-Bridge’s sharp writing and performance, stay for Andrew Scott as the Hot Priest.

G/O Media may get a commission

Up to 40% off

Samsung Smart TVs

Vivid colors and deep blacks
It’s Oscar season which means it’s time to binge all the nominations before the big day. Why not enjoy these pieces of art on a new TV from our friends at Samsung?

This series will be the third time Tomb Raider has seen a live-action adaptation, with Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander portraying Lara Croft in two separate film series. At the moment, it remains unclear if this show will be based on the classic Tomb Raider games or the survival-oriented settings of the reboot series.

While the Amazon adaptation is in the works, developer Crystal Dynamics is also in the midst of developing a new Tomb Raider game. The studio was recently acquired by The Embracer Group after Square Enix sold it and other studios off in an effort to downsize and shift its focus onto other things like blockchain.

[ad_2]

Kenneth Shepard

Source link

January 27, 2023