There is simply no peace at Embracer Group. With the studio sales reportedly completed, the remainder of the gaming division will now be split into three companies.
Things continue to go well at the Swedish Embracer Group. After Gearbox Interactive and Saber Interactive were recently sold, studio closures and sales were supposed to be over for now, but now we’re moving straight into restructuring.
Again The holding’s board of directors has now announced, the gaming division will be divided into three listed companies: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends will remain within the current listed company Embracer Group, which will subsequently be renamed.
In the future, Asmodee Group will apparently take care of the non-digital part in the form of board games, trading cards and tabletop games with a total of 23 studios and well-known brands such as CATAN. Coffee Stain & Friends will take over the video games division from 2025, and THQ Nordics will also be a leading publisher. Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends is apparently responsible for the licensing business for The Lord of the Rings and Tomb Raider, but also takes on triple-A studios such as Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster (Dead Island 2), Warhorse Studios (Kingdom Come: Deliverance II) and 4A Games (Metro) under the wing. Plaion will also be part of this company as a publisher in the future.
“The Board of Directors, together with the management, proposes to convert the Embracer Group into three separate, listed companies. This conversion is an important step towards unlocking shareholder value. With this new structure, the three companies can focus on the implementation of their core strategies and the exploitation “Focus on our own strengths and provide both existing and new shareholders with a more differentiated and clear equity story. After carefully considering various strategic alternatives, we strongly believe that this decision benefits all stakeholders and positions us for continued success in the future,” says Kicki Wallje-Lund, CEO of Embracer Group.
It will be interesting to see whether and in what form this massive restructuring will bear fruit in the future. So far, the Embracer Group’s aggressive approach with countless studio purchases has been more of an illusion, which has resulted in numerous layoffs, studio sales and closures.
