Game news Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy: Square-Enix would have lost a crazy amount of money, dizzying numbers
Published on 04/05/2022 at 12:26
You’ve probably seen the news: Embracer Group has just acquired several Square-Enix studios, including Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics. An analyst has his little idea of the why and the how.
200 million losses, just because of the Marvel games?
This is the big news of the moment, that of a surprise takeover that we absolutely did not see coming: Square Enix has sold its Square Enix Montreal studios as well as several flagship franchises like Deus Ex or Tomb Raider to the Embracer group for 300 million dollars. A sum that is not that important for studios of this size, especially since the portfolio of franchises delivered with includes more than fifty.
According to Dave Gibson, senior analyst for MST Financial and specialized in the video game industry, there is a specific reason for this unexpected sale and it is called Marvel: Marvel’s Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxytwo games stamped by the comic house and developed respectively by Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal, would have lost… 200 million dollars to Square-Enix in less than two years.
A sale to make up for losses
The Japanese publisher had never hidden the commercial disappointment with these two titles, recording sales and attendance figures below expectations, but we had no concrete figures to put in our mouths. This sale of 300 million dollars to Embracer Group would have been used to fill the deficits, too large for the Japanese company.
Nevertheless, Gibson admits that the sum of the buyout seems very meager, especially given the many franchises involved and the four AAA (and therefore big budget) games that would be on the way. Note that among these, a brand new Tomb Raider has just been announcedwhich will also use the Unreal Engine 5 for a new generation technique.
Marvel – that’s the reason why Square sold its NA team for $300m. Because in a little under two years they lost $200m on two Marvel games. But it still looks like a low price given the optionality on probably 4 AAA titles coming through. #SquareEnix #Embracer
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) May 2, 2022
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Par Max_CagnardJournalist jeuxvideo.com
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