Embracer commented on plans for its newly acquired brands as part of the current quarterly report. The company would like to use the rights for sequels, but also for remasters, remakes, spinoffs and “transmedia” projects.
As part of the transaction that was only announced in May Square Enix sold the brands Tomb Raider, Deux Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain, Hitman and the rights to other older, but unspecified brands together with the associated studios and their approximately 1,100 employees for only 300 million US dollars, in order to, among other things to invest in blockchain technology.
In previous years, Square Enix had regularly complained with schöner that sales figures had fallen short of expectations despite high sales. Deus Ex was therefore put on hold in 2017. Part of that is their nature: All brands are difficult to microtransact as single-player titles, so their win potential is less gigantic as a result. The separation of a large part of this business area seems at least logical.
Known strategy
The Embracer Group, which already owns the publishers THQ Nordic and Koch Media (Deep Silver), now owns the rights and expertise. Remakes and remasters in particular fit well into the previous growth strategy. THQ Nordic in particular has experience with reviving old brands: the publisher regularly releases remakes or remasters. New editions of Gothic and Destroy All Humans 2 are currently being planned. The company has also had positive experiences with expansions to classics, such as the fourth add-on for the action RPG Titan Quest. Cross-media projects, on the other hand, are now almost the industry standard in marketing. The best example is Fortnite, where figures from well-known series or games are regularly added.
However, the announcement of remasters and remakes does not mean that only classics are used. A new Tomb Raider based on the upcoming Unreal Engine 5 has already been announced. In addition, Embracer spoke of “sequels” in the plural.
What happens will depend on the series and game. Thief and Deus Ex are still young enough to be written directly. Legacy of Kain, on the other hand, will hardly be a concept anymore and would initially be suitable for a gentle revival. The first Deux Ex from 2000 also had potential: it has an active modding community and is still being played – so its concept has aged timelessly. Embracer will probably only present concrete plans after the completion of the takeover in September.