Embracer Group announces its separation into three different companies

Those who follow the video game industry closely will almost immediately recognize the name of a particular company: Embracer Group. Five years ago this company began to be in the news due to its strategy of constantly buying different studios, but since last year it has been starring in other types of news, since Embracer Group It is the name most associated with the waves of layoffs that have been hitting gaming. Now the company announced a drastic change in its structure, since it will no longer be Embracer Group and will be divided into three different companies.

The news was announced through a statement published by the company where they explain what this separation entails. The three companies will be Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends y Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. According to the statement, Asmodee Group will dedicate himself to board games and is currently working on projects based on The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Game of Thrones, Star Wars and more. Coffee Stain & Friends will focus on independent and free-to-play games, with the control of studios such as Coffee Stain, Ghost Ship y THQ Nordicand properties like Deep Rock Galactic, Goat Simulator y Satisfactory. Finally, Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends will be in charge of AAA projects with studios such as Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Eidos Montrealand properties like The Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, Dead Island, Kingdom Come Deliverance and more.

Lars Wingeforswho until now serves as CEO of Embracer Group, will be the owner of the three new companies. The executive described this strategy as a way to “unleash the full potential of each team and provide them with their own leadership and strategic direction.” This division would be the end of the restructuring stage of Embracer Group, which was announced in the middle of last year after the company failed to complete a $2 billion deal. At that time, the announcement had detailed that the restructuring would take place until March 2024, so many hope that this final move will not lead to even more layoffs than there already were.

As a result of this restructuring of the company, Embracer Group laid off nearly 1,400 employees as part of that restructuring, in addition to canceling about 29 different games. Unfortunately, that restructuring also led to the complete closure of studios such as Volition, Campfire Cabal y Free Radical Designwhile other studies such as Gearbox y Saber Interactive they had to be sold.