In addition to video games such as Elex 2, Biomutant, Deep Rock Galactic (since August 2021) and the KotOR remake, board games and comics are now also part of the Embracer family.
Embracer is now larger than either Activision-Blizzard or Electronic Arts, at least in terms of workforce size. Over 11,000 people work for the Swedish parent group of THQ Nordic, Koch Media, Gearbox and a total of almost 100 developer studios. If the planned takeover of the French board game publisher Asmodée works, there will even be over 12,000 – Activision-Blizzard and EA will each have around 10,000.
In general: Asmodee. Embracer wants to spend 2.75 billion dollars to take over the world’s largest board game publisher. At the same time, the Swedes are branching out into other media beyond gaming. In December 2021, they took over the US comic publisher Dark Horse, who also oversees film and series projects such as The Umbrella Academy (Netflix). Also new to the Embracer family is the Berlin streaming provider Spotfilm Networx, which, among other things, runs the YouTube channel Netzkino operates.
Embracer continues to grow, almost unnoticed, a media group is emerging in northern Europe. What do they want to achieve – and when is the Gothic board game coming? We discuss that and more in the podcast.
Missed episode? All podcast episodes at a glance
It’s already the second podcast that we’re recording about Embracer – we last took a look at Sweden after the Gearbox takeover. If you haven’t heard episode 1 yet, you should do so first.
And as Embracer grows, so does our analytics team. This time Micha is talking to two guests:
- Human Nagafi is a business consultant 1789 Innovations, Podcaster at Corporate Therapy and always willing to talk about Embracer.
- Manuel Fritsch you know as a GameStar author and from Insert Moin, as a board game expert he also sits on the “Game of the Year” jury and has a lot to say about Asmodée (and other acquisitions).
Our discussion raises hopes, but also fears. The latter includes Embracer becoming more and more seduced by modern gaming. After all, service and mobile games bring in a lot of money…
Listen to the episode now
You can either listen to the episode directly in your browser or download it for later by clicking on the blue button. In some browsers you have to right-click and select “Save target as”.
Alternatively, as always, there is our RSS feed for Plus users, with which you can download all new podcast episodes directly onto your smartphone.
