Embracer acquires MMO maker Neverwinter and Star Trek Online – update

Embracer Group announces new acquisitions. The game company wants to acquire Perfect World Entertainment for $125 million, among other things. PWE is the owner and operator of several mmo’s. Embracer wants to house PWE at Gearbox Entertainment.

Embracer Group pays $125 million to acquire Perfect World Entertainment. The deal has been signed and the companies expect the acquisition to close in February 2022, subject to regulatory approval.

PWE owns Cryptic Studios. That is the developer of the mmo’s Neverwinter, Star Trek Online and Champions Online. Those three MMOs have been active for more than 25 years, Embracer reports. In addition, PWE is the publisher of the Torchlight franchise and the game Remnant: From the Ashes, among others.

Embracer plans to house PWE within its Gearbox Entertainment business unit. That could mean the company has plans to combine Cryptic Studios’ MMO expertise with Gearbox’s gaming franchises, such as Borderlands. Embracer does not provide concrete details about this, however.

PWE lost in 2021 because the mmo Magic: Legends was dropped. Embracer is confident that the company will be profitable in the coming years with the arrival of new MMOs and new titles.

Embracer Group announced three more acquisitions on Tuesday. Saber Interactive business unit acquires Shiver Entertainment. This is a small American studio with 20 employees that was founded in 2013 by veterans of the games industry. The studio helped develop Mortal Kombat 11 and Scribblenauts Showdown, among others.

Saber Interactive also acquires Digic. This is an animation studio from Hungary with four hundred employees, which also provides motion capture services. Digic is known for trailers and cinematics for games, according to Embracer, and has also collaborated on Netflix animated series Love, Death and Robots.

Finally, Embracer Group acquires the German video platform Spotfilm Networx through business unit Koch Media. This party offers films and documentaries via YouTube and its own app, including advertisements as a revenue model.

Last week, Embracer Group announced its intention to acquire board game maker Asmodee for 2.75 billion euros. Embracer has recently made many acquisitions and has indicated that it will continue to do so. The Swedish company wants to become the largest game company in Europe. Embracer was previously known as THQ Nordic AB.

Update: 10.14 am: Embracer also acquires Dark Horse, an American company with 181 employees that publishes comic books, books, films and series. Dark Horse owns a library of three hundred ‘intellectual properties’, including The Mask, Timecop, Hellboy and The Umbrella Academy.

Embracer states that the acquisition is good for strengthening its ‘transmedia capabilities’. The company is referring to the publishing of, for example, dot books about games and the creation of games based on comic books. Dark Horse is to become Embracer Group’s tenth business unit. Financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed. The parties expect the deal to be completed in early 2022.

* acquisition not yet completed