Embracer Group Is Splitting Into Separate Companies

Game ZXC

THQ Nordic

By Pam K Ferdinand

Published Apr 22, 2024

In the latest step in its restructuring initiative, Embracer Group has announced that it will be splitting into three different companies. Embracer is a Swedish video game and media conglomerate that got its start in 2011 as Nordic Games Licensing, taking over the intellectual properties of defunct publishers like JoWooD and THQ. In the years since, the company has grown into a major presence in the video games space.

Beginning in 2019, Embracer ramped up its acquisition of video game developers and publishers, adding Saber Interactive, Gearbox Entertainment, Demiurge, Aspyr, Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montreal, and more to its roster. However, just months after it purchased Square Enix Montreal in August 2022, Embracer shut down several of the developer’s mobile games and, shortly afterward, the studio itself. This was the first of many cost-cutting and debt-reduction measures for Embracer, which have continued to this day and resulted in layoffs, studio sales and shutdowns, and project cancellations.

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Now, Embracer has announced that it is continuing with the restructuring by splitting into three separate entities: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. These will be standalone publicly listed companies, and each will be taking with it part of Embracer’s existing portfolio, though it hasn’t yet been announced exactly where each IP will be going.

Embracer Splits Into 3 Separate Companies

Asmodee – tabletop games publisher and distributor
Coffee Stain & Friends – indie and A/AA premium and free-to-play games on PC, console, and mobile
Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends – AAA games developer and publisher for PC and console, including The Lord of the Rings and Tomb Raider

Asmodee — a French company focused on board, card, and tabletop games — was acquired by Embracer in 2021 and rebranded as Twin Sails Interactive in 2022. As an independent company separate from Embracer, Asmodee will continue publishing and distributing tabletop games. Right before its acquisition by Embracer, the company had announced that it would begin licensing its board game IPs for digital development, though it’s currently unclear if this is still part of Asmodee’s plans.

Coffee Stain & Friends will continue working on indie and A/AA paid and free-to-play games for multiple platforms, including mobile. Though Coffee Stain group was acquired by Embracer in 2018, it retained its independent status. The company is primarily known for its space dwarf first-person shooter Deep Rock Galactic, the zany action game Goat Simulator, and its sequel, Goat Simulator 3, but it also has multiple publishing and development subsidiaries.

Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends will be focusing on the development and publishing of AAA games on both PC and console. It will be taking over The Lord of the Rings and Tomb Raider franchises, as well as other currently unnamed intellectual properties.