The parent company of THQ Nordic and Koch Media, the Embracer Group, wants to expand its video game empire. After 62 acquisitions and 8 billion spends, the ogre will gobble up other studios.
We talk about PlayStation and Xbox acquisitions very regularly, but in their corner, the Embracer Group is quietly building its empire. An expansion that will continue because the company still has a strong appetite (and plenty of money to invest).
Embracer Group will acquire dozens of studios
In just two years, Embracer Group has become a European video game titan with 62 studio acquisitions for $8.1 billion. These include, for example, Gearbox (Borderlands), 4A Games (Metro) or Saber Interactive (World War Z). In order to diversify its activities, with the acquisition of Dark Horse Comics (which had opened a games and digital entertainment division), the company also placed its marbles in the mobile sector with DECA Games, cinema and comics.
But the Swedish conglomerate is still hungry, very hungry since CEO Lars Wingefors admitted it financial times (Interview submitted by VGC) that Embracer Group would proceed a similar number of withdrawals in the months and years come. The boss is targeting companies based in France, the USA, Great Britain and China. The only requirement: to have already passed. At this time, the company has 115 development studios.
Measured risks, the desire for free-to-play
In terms of production scope, Embracer Group makes a little of everything but desires across multiple genres enter the free-to-play section. The company currently has 216 games in the works, with more than 25 AAA planned by April 2026. Isn’t that too much? Not for Lars Wingefors.
If you can make a single move, there is a large trading risk. But if you make 200 games like we do, the business risk is less.
The CEO has also said he’s not seeking an interventionist approach with the studios. For him, yes, when companies make their management more complex “At this moment they fall apart”.
