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Square-Enix sells all of its Western game studios and their games to Embracer
- MikusR 5y agoThis deal is 300m for multiple studios + IP. Microsoft paid 100m for a year long exclusive of a single Tomb Raider game.
- baud147258 5y agowell, if Embracer can get the same deal on the next TR game, they'd be able to recoup some of their investment
- ddingus 5y agoMan, I just want more of tye big world FF 7 through 12 type games. Anyone doing titles like that anymore? My wife and I really enjoy a big one and will play one all the way through. Miss that type of experience. The MMO is completely uninteresting and addictive as hell from what I see can happen to players.
- ilikecakeandpie 5y agoCheckout titles like Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default series maybe?
- ddingus 5y agoI will. Thanks!
- johnnyanmac 5y ago>Anyone doing titles like that anymore? in what way? A huge sprawling turned based JRPG experience, or a big-budget Japanese-style game with a more "universally resonant" style of dialouge and narrative? If you don't mind some indie jank, Light fairytale[1] is very much a fan's attempt to capture that FF7 feel in the modern day. And then there's Edge of Eternity[2] that tries to do the same with an ff10/12 feel. if you want something more AAA, Yakuza Like a Dragon has that sense of exploration and scope while being a turned based game (but the tone is completely different). For the latter: well, Sakaguchi still makes games, and his latest one on IOS called Fantasian has been getting praise. Lost Oddessy is an older, Xbox only title that more or less feels like "what if Sakaguchi made his own version of FF13?". not in a thematic sense, but more in the fact that this was a big budget HD game that feels like it was cut from the same cloth as FF12. The downside of his post Square games is the platform availability. [1]:https://store.steampowered.com/app/539330/Light_Fairytale_Episode_1/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/539330/Light_Fairytale_Ep... [2]: https://store.steampowered.com/app/269190/Edge_Of_Eternity/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/269190/Edge_Of_Eternity/
- ddingus 5y agoThank you. All of the above are fun. I will take the jump off points you linked and go looking. We like to get lost in the art, story, puzzles and exploration, ideally with other fun to be found. And it is just us. That is nice.
- astrange 5y agoFFXIV is not addictive unless you want it to be (there’s not much need to grind or talk to other people to do the story) and after the so-so ARR has one of the best stories of any of their games. It is running on an old engine with unimpressive graphics but that’s all.
- CodeArtisan 5y agoExecutives at Square-Enix have been saying for >ten years now that video gaming consoles and AAA games are getting less and less interesting to them, especially in Japan.
- johnnyanmac 5y agoreally? their investment and financials seem to suggest that they are more interested than ever in AAA games.
- jbverschoor 5y agoPerfect. I miss Japanese Squaresoft
- didibus 5y agoThat's interesting and hopefully for the best. Square always did best Japanese style games, and maybe this lets them focus more on what they're good at. Eidos is such a good game studio, but I feel Square was just not letting them shine. Crystal Dynamics is also pretty descent, but that Avengers game what the hell happened? I think they're just not the right studio for a game like that. Now I don't know much about Embracer, but they seem to want to make good quality games, and I'm happy about that.
- brendoelfrendo 5y agoI don't think there is a right studio for a live-service game with micro-transactions etc., etc., etc., and I blame Square for taking what could have been a tightly-focused game and making it into something big, bland, and expensive. Not to say that Crystal Dynamics couldn't have done better, just that I think Square is obsessed with making a live service game happen (see also: Outriders; Babylon's Fall) and they're letting that blind drive hurt their studios.
- johnnyanmac 5y agoThere's so many hands in the pudding of avengers between SE, Crystal, Marvel, and Disney, and so many industry fluctuations that there's probably no one party at blame. These were dealings happening right at the crux of when Games as a Service was hitting full swing, during production Infinity War became a cultural phenomenon on top of the already existing cultural phenomenon, the fan reaction to the initial avenger faces, a revolving door of talent during production, And ofc some COVID to throw everything in disarray in the 11th hour, but still needing _something_ to take advantadge of the software surge as the movies were being delayed. it's a perfect storm of business meddling and plain ol' unfortunate circumstance. At this point, I'm just baffled by how lucky Insomiac was to basically time everything just right while under 80% of the same conditions.
- alliao 5y agoperhaps Japanese game execs are getting ready for the future battle with MSFT gates is probably still after nintendo
- Melatonic 5y agoIf they can release new Deus Ex game that keeps the spirit and best aspects of the first games, uses the best of Cyberpunk 2077, and a dash of the amazingness that was Prey we could have an absolutely EPIC game.
- talideon 5y agoCool! I like Nordic/Embracer.
- midislack 5y agoFrankly they lost their magic not long after buying Enix. Both companies were amazing, they had some great games for 2-3 years after the merger, then it was just drivel. No I didn't like the dizneee meets final fantasy installments.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- whywhywhywhy 5y agoNo idea why companies in trouble always fall for the Marvel collab trap. Never seen it actually work out just seems to bleed out the last of the money then completely flop in the marketplace.
- dncornholio 5y ago300 million in todays day and age seems like a bargain.
- vmception 5y agoHow much they need to sell before Square becomes Squaresoft again?
- SllX 5y agoWell this is a good start but they’d need to lose Enix and Taito too.
- Sakos 5y agoThey'd also have to lose people like Nomura and Kitase.
- vmception 5y agoAnything to prevent people from redefining the word remake
- houli 5y agoNomura has been around since at least FF5, and Kitase before that. Long before the Enix merger
- Sakos 5y agoYes, but it's only after Sakaguchi left (and with the SE merger) that they had full creative and management control of the big Japanese projects. The FF13 era was a massive disaster and they've never really recovered from that. Nomura was literally just a monster designer on FF5. I have no idea how it's relevant that he was the monster designer on FF5 to what he's done to the company in a leadership role in the past 20 years.
- johnnyanmac 5y ago>The FF13 era was a massive disaster and they've never really recovered from that. I think they've recovered from that for at least 6 years now, minimum >I have no idea how it's relevant that he was the monster designer on FF5 to what he's done to the company in a leadership role in the past 20 years. well first of all, we're talking about Japan. Seniority trumps a lot of things over there, and Nomura being around for longer than 99% of the company would give him a lot of sway regardless of his named role. But even leaving that aside, being the creative force behind a major franchise that bolstered the relationship with one of the most powerful companies on earth would get you some sway in any company. Even so, he's not necessarily the end all be all behind any grievances you may have with Square Enix. He's ultiamtely a director first and businessman 10th.
- oneoff786 5y agoThe newer tomb raider games are the most AAA games I’ve ever seen. Not saying they’re good, or bad, but every other moment is a handcrafted moment. It sort of works. A lot of it is platforming through crumbling environments. Which is pretty cool. It’s sort of overdone too. SquareEnix felt legendary growing up.
- Shadonototra 5y agoSquareSoft was great, when they merged with Enix to form SquareEnix is when things started to go wrong People mix both SquareSoft's success and Enix and their merge
- skinnymuch 5y agoYeah I’ve looked at the games catalogue before. It doesn’t seem like Enix brings that much to the table. It seems like they got real lucky being there financially for Squaresoft after their massive film losses.
- astrange 5y agoDragon Quest is more important than any Squaresoft game in Japan and for a while was a better series. They have a kind of weird approach to releasing it in the West where they give everyone British accents (which are totally real but Americans think are made up) and make it kind of kiddy, but even the new ones have a lot of quality. If you ever wondered what a game made by old people would be like, it’s that.
- acchow 5y agoCrumbling environments looks really cool, but they kind of make an entire game around it :P
- wetpaws 5y agoI want to see more Tomb Raider, but I absolutely don't want to see more AAA Tomb Raider. If it is a future of squenix, maybe it would be better for them to stop making games.
- awill 5y agoI don't know anything about the debt/risk etc.. around this, but $300M seems very, very low for 3 studios with lots of IP.
- sorry_outta_gas 5y agoThe 300M received will 100x itself in the cryptospace though, must look to the future not the now. according to square's leadership anyway
- overboard2 5y agoHow is that relevant?
- sorry_outta_gas 5y ago"In addition, the Transaction enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud," Square Enix said.
- deathanatos 5y agoYou're not going to underprice a sale because of that. Even if you believed that you could take the money and "100x itself in the cryptospace"", why not 100x $500M, instead of 100x $300M? (Unless you disagree with the parent's point, that is, and think that that is a fair price for what was sold. I'm not commenting on that, only that "investing the proceeds in crypto" doesn't make sense in this argument.)
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- phoboslab 5y ago> Square Enix says the transaction (which was only $300 million) "enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud." ~ https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1521017861803704321 https://twitter.com/Wario64/status/1521017861803704321
- falcolas 5y agoThe Embracer Group's portfolio is becoming scary big. They're really scooping up development studios left and right. I appreciate that they're not doing much with them right now, but it makes me concerned for the future.
- Macha 5y agoTencent, Embracer and Microsoft. The industry definitely feels like it's consolidating into fewer players.
- swarnie 5y agoI'd be interesting to see the full list of IP they've sold. The article only gives three examples, one game I've never heard of, one recycled shooter from the 2000s and then there is Tomb raider - a series with twenty instalments, already milked to dust for pre-sequels, squeals and reboots more times then seems fair. Clearly someone thinks they can squeeze a few more dollars out of people here but personally im not seeing it.
- egypturnash 5y agoIf you are curious, the game you’ve never heard of is definitely in the realm of “cult classic”. The Legacy of Kain series is flawed in many ways; its reach exceeds its grasp in every installment, but there is a lot of solid vampire angst in between the places where the budget ran out. When it comes together it’s great IMHO. Start with Soul Reaver, where you are a vampire who is killed in the opening cinematic, then resurrected as a Double Vampire who eats vampire souls in a dying world while railing against your Inevitable Doomed Destiny. Which, just so you know, is not resolved until Soul Reaver 2. Which IMHO you should play before either of the Kain games if you enjoy Soul Reaver. These games are goth as fuck. If you do not have an inner goth then it’s probably going to feel like a bunch of pretentious whiny shit. But if you have an inner goth, she will eat this series up. My inner goth is quietly vibrating and squealing at this tiny, vague possibility of more Legacy of Kain.
- astrange 5y agoIt’s too bad the newer White Wolf/Vampire games are in complete development hell, and the rest of the series can’t figure out how to balance adding current events, being modernly inclusive, and being as edgy as possible. (Also, it seems like all their series that aren’t Vampire are kinda boring.)
- bentcorner 5y agoEidos Montreal's recent work with Guardian's of the Galaxy is really well done and I think overshadowed by the absolute failure of Crystal Dynamic's Marvel Avengers game. I think they'd succeed with a GotG 2 or another 3rd-person action adventure game with a different IP.
- cinntaile 5y agoAre they preparing for getting acquired by Sony or what?
- devmor 5y agoAt current TSE prices it'd cost Sony at least 5% of their entire market cap to acquire SE so I think we'd hear a bit more about it if something like that were in the works. A trillion yen is nothing to sneeze at.
- skinnymuch 5y agoSony did invest close to or exactly $1B into Fornite last month. It wasn’t stated outright but they were one of two main investors with the Lego parent company investing $1 of $2B raised. Though yeah an SE acquisition would be a far bigger deal even without being over 5x as much.
- adra 5y agoGotta kill the only wildly successful Metaverse company... ROBLOX!
- WorldMaker 5y agoMy bet is that this is a more useful maneuver for getting acquired by Microsoft than Sony in the current marketplace. Microsoft doesn't need much more "Western IP" (not after Bethesda), but everyone knowns Microsoft needs a much bigger Asian IP footprint as the last big hole in their "global" catalog.
- haunter 5y ago>The Transaction will assist the Company in adapting to the changes underway in the global business environment by establishing a more efficient allocation of resources, which will enhance corporate value by accelerating growth in the Company’s core businesses in the digital entertainment domain. In addition, the Transaction enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud. https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/20220502%20A_Press%20Release_fin.pdf https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/20220502%20A_Pre... They are still making incredibly good games (FFXIV, DQXI, Nier, Bravely Default etc.) but for every single good one I swear they make 3 utter shite too + their gacha games are not even that good considering the saturation on the gacha market and what quality games some other companies can make (see Genshin) But at least Naoki Yoshida is on the board of directors + he is producing the next mainline FF game and I think he has the trust of millions of players considering what they did with XIV. So not all hope lost as long as he is at the company.
- omoikane 5y agoFor me, Square Enix has been more of a manga publisher than a game company in recent years, and on that front I would say they are doing a pretty good job.
- poulpy123 5y agoThat read like a parody
- make3 5y agoFor people who don't play MMOs because they're way too addictive, the focus of square on FFXIV has been really disappointing
- jrsj 5y agoWhen you zoom out a little it makes a lot of sense. FF15 and FF13 were both failures, company had serious financial issues before FF14 took off. Hopefully you will get to enjoy FF16, and making that game wouldn’t have been possible without the success of 14. FFXIV also has the least addictive qualities of any MMO I have played in my experience. There’s very little FOMO & you’re encouraged to play at whatever pace you enjoy. Many players just play through the story and treat it as a mostly single player game.
- gundamdoubleO 5y agoHopefully a new Deus Ex game might be a possibility again.
- TillE 5y agoThe thing about Deus Ex is that there's nothing particularly special about the "IP". Anybody could make a near-future cyberpunk conspiracy-oriented immersive sim, and call it whatever. The modern Deus Ex games were really average, and (as detailed in the recent hbomberguy video) failed to grasp the key principles of level design that are required to make games like that work.
- jameshart 5y ago> Anybody could make a near-future cyberpunk conspiracy-oriented immersive sim Pretty sure CD Projekt disproved that theory
- dleslie 5y agoThe cyberpunk game that covered its expenses, made a profit, and is slated to receive DLC was made by a studio that disproved that theory how, exactly?
- dainchi 5y agoWhile it technically "made a profit" it's sales after launch where massively under expectations. They where expecting to sell upwards of 30+ Million copies in the first year. They sold 14+ Million before launch, and an additional 4 Million since. For an AAA game of this size that is a crazy dropoff, and it is unlikely to ever reach the original goal, even if the expansions manage to turn the massive PR hit to CD Projekt around. (And thats ignoring the fact that CD's stock absolutely tanked after launch, and is unlikely to recover until The Witcher 4, if ever.)
- dleslie 5y agoSo it's not a smash hit, but it's not a failure either. In game development, any game that makes a profit is a success; that's just how our business is.
- tandr 5y agoWestern... Didn't they own the first or second "Dune" game?
- Ralfp 5y agoFun fact: Westwood Dune games are (legally) Lynch's movie adaptations, not book adaptations.
- munk-a 5y agoDo you mean Westwood Dune?
- tandr 5y agoThank you, it was Westwood indeed! My memory have failed me, again.
- speeder 5y agoFirst Dune game owner is Virgin, currently owned by EA Second Dune game owner is Westwood, currently owned by EA So... no.
- tandr 5y agoThank you, Western and Westwood got mixed up in my head.
- ianbutler 5y agoPretty please can we have the final installment of the Adam Jensen Deus Ex trilogy now. Left us hanging in the middle of what might be one of my favorite neo noir, cyberpunk series because open world story driven games were losing out back then. There's clearly an appetite now given recent releases and their success.
- stevenwoo 5y agoWhenever this game is mentioned, I still think about and regret my actions during my first playthrough of the very first mission in the second? game. You have a choice in how to do it and I was lazy and just killed everyone, and IIRC it's revealed that it's a test with your comrades guarding the objective and I felt awful!
- Reubachi 5y agoI think Deus Ex is done. A finish to the Jensen story would rely upon Eidos Montreal being able to produce more than one game every 5 years. Since Mankind Divided, they've released only a Guardians of the Galaxy game. MD was a great game, which was according to Eidos Montreal kneecapped by "Square rushing it out". Human Revolution was an even greater game, but still slightly kneecapped by "Square rushing it out".
- l30n4da5 5y ago> I think Deus Ex is done. I mean, it says in the article that Eidos Montreal already confirmed their next game is a Deus Ex title, so....I dont think it is done.
- Tiktaalik 5y agoIn comparison to other recent sales of big studios and publishers the price just seems absolutely and insanely low. Gearbox 1.3B, Bethesda 7.5B, Insomniac $230M, Wth is Square thinking. Letting Eidos and Crystal Dynamics go for about the same price as Insomniac? Wild just wild.
- skinnymuch 5y agoI was never sure how much of the $7.5B is Bethesda vs sister and parent companies . This deal makes it seem like it’s over $7B of it, but there were a decent amt of sister companies making thing. Epic Games was just valued at $31.5B in their latest funding round last month.
- acheron 5y agoMaybe Epic will finally be able to fund that Jill of the Jungle sequel now.