Embracer Group Acquires Metro Exodus Developer 4A Games, Other Developers

[Raevenlord]

Embracer Group, parent company of THQ Nordic, has been on a roll of IP and developer embracings in the past years, and has now added quite the independent heavyweight to its belt. 4A Games, best known for the Metro games franchise, has been acquired by the group. 4A Games will undoubtedly continue work on another installment of the Metro franchise, which has the original author of the novels the games are based on, Dmitry Glukhovsky, attached to the project as writer. In addition to 4A Games, Embracer Group has also acquired DECA Games, New World Interactive, Palindrome Interactive, Pow Wow Entertainment, Sola Media, Rare Earth Games, and Vermila Studios.

"With the acquisition of 4A Games, Saber Interactive is locking-up one of the best indie studios in the industry with the potential and capacity to take on another AAA project and are also internalizing the value of existing and future IPs into the Group. Saber solidifies its position as a leader in the CIS and Ukrainian game developer market. Combining our technology and capabilities with 4A Games presents tremendous opportunity for growth and expansion."

Matt Karch, CEO Saber Interactive and Director of the Embracer Board

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[sam_86314]

Unless I missed something, I think THQ Nordic has been one of the better publishers this generation. They've been releasing good games from the looks of it, and they've all been released DRM-free on GOG. They haven't been doing any microtransactions or other anti-consumer nonsense as far as I know.

I dunno. My first impressions of them have been better than some other publishers like Bethesda and especially EA and Activision.

 

[Pan]

Would love to see them develop a game outside of the Metro IP.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Unless I missed something, I think THQ Nordic has been one of the better publishers this generation. They've been releasing good games from the looks of it, and they've all been released DRM-free on GOG. They haven't been doing any microtransactions or other anti-consumer nonsense as far as I know.

I dunno. My first impressions of them have been better than some other publishers like Bethesda and especially EA and Activision.

depends if you count the Metro Exodus Epic exclusive thing anti-consumer or not. They promised a steam release then cancelled the steam release just two weeks before it was due to go live on steam. People who had pre-ordered hard copies of the game for steam were receiving games with epic activation keys taped over the steam key.

 

[Mescalamba]

THQ Nordic is lately doing quite a bit of work on old games or trying to review/remaster them. Not a bad partner.. Having new DLC for Titan Quest was quite a something.

 

[sam_86314]

depends if you count the Metro Exodus Epic exclusive thing anti-consumer or not. They promised a steam release then cancelled the steam release just two weeks before it was due to go live on steam. People who had pre-ordered hard copies of the game for steam were receiving games with epic activation keys taped over the steam key.

Fair enough.

 

[Assimilator]

Metro Exodus was not particularly great, seems like a poor purchasing choice.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Unless I missed something, I think THQ Nordic has been one of the better publishers this generation. They've been releasing good games from the looks of it, and they've all been released DRM-free on GOG. They haven't been doing any microtransactions or other anti-consumer nonsense as far as I know.

I dunno. My first impressions of them have been better than some other publishers like Bethesda and especially EA and Activision.

The problem with THQ Nordic is they have been a little light in the wallet. They did acquire alot of the THQ IP’s and have funded a number of smaller studios’ games, but they lacked the huge mountain of cash larger developers have. This has limited what they can release and still fund studio development.

Nevertheless, they have managed to put together a really nice portfolio of games and studios!

 

[TheLostSwede]

Anyone else read that as Embraer group?

 

[claylomax]

Anyone else read that as Embraer group?

Yeah I did

 

[Vayra86]

Unless I missed something, I think THQ Nordic has been one of the better publishers this generation. They've been releasing good games from the looks of it, and they've all been released DRM-free on GOG. They haven't been doing any microtransactions or other anti-consumer nonsense as far as I know.

I dunno. My first impressions of them have been better than some other publishers like Bethesda and especially EA and Activision.

THQ isn't bad at all, I think in spirit they definitely see there is a single player market and want to cater for it. But its a bigger industry movement. This is consolidation, I think European companies are banding together to stop the tide from both Asia and the US, the movement to sub based and the exodus of data and talent that comes with it. If you look ahead in time, its going to become imperative for EU companies to have their data, their workers and most of everything else locally so that they own and manage it instead of getting it done for them. The status quo between US and China is not going to last and this is a major strategical risk, the markets will change radically.

They've seen it coming. With Amazon, Netflix and all other sorts of stuff moving into entertainment and taking a huge share of the pie by storm and with seemingly limitless capital. Most of these companies run a loss for as much as a decade (and apparently, they can), only to take over markets and distribution chains to then start a pricing structure built to conquer and control. We see it everywhere and it needs a counterweight, along with heavy and fair taxation. There is a task there for consumers as well, and it starts with awareness. Every cent you spend towards these big companies is one you'll pay ten times over and you invest in long term destruction of creativity and fair play.