The Embracer Group’s spending spree and wave of acquisitions continue. Having announced earlier this year that it’ll be acquiring the bulk of Square Enix’s western business and properties, the company has now announced another wave of major acquisitions. The headlining purchase in this fresh wave is obviously Middle-Earth Enterprises and all the rights that go along with it, but there are a bunch of others as well.
The Embracer Group has announced that it’s acquiring distributor and publisher Limited Run Games; Tripwire Interactive of Killing Floor, Rising Storm, and Maneater fame; music company Singtrix; and Tuxedo Labs, developer of popular destruction-based title Teardown.
Embracer Group CEO and founder Lars Wingefors said about the Limited Run Games acquisition: “As an avid collector, I’ve admired Limited Run’s collectors’ editions. They’ve built a strong brand that resonates with players. We see opportunities for Limited Run to further grow their business with the Carbon Engine by bringing back classic games, and extend their footprint geographically through synergies with other companies within Embracer Group.”
About the Tripwire Interactive acquisition, Saber Interactive CEO Matthew Karch said: “Tripwire is a unique studio. Since their founding in 2005, they have grown, through tremendous leadership and vision, into one of the last great independent developers. I have looked up to Tripwire as an example of how to design and execute on games. Saber has Tripwire to thank for many of our own successes and I am proud to welcome them into our family.”
Meanwhile, Tripwire’s CEO and co-founder Alan Wilson said: “We’ve known Saber for a while now and are really excited about the opportunity to leverage everything they have to offer. Together we are going to be able to deliver more new Tripwire titles, more often than ever before, as well as ramp up the published titles. We look forward to creating a lot more great games that people will love to play.”
About the Tuxedo Labs acquisition, Karch said: “Tuxedo Labs has created revolutionary technology that opens up vast possibilities for emergent gameplay and user-created content. Their hit title Teardown has the potential to become the standard-bearing platform for physics simulation in games. Many of us at Saber and our subsidiary 3D Realms have worked with Dennis since the mid-2000’s. We are super excited to welcome Dennis, their CEO Marcus Dawson, and the rest of the Tuxedo Labs team into the Embracer family.”
Tuxedo Labs founder Dennis Gustafsson said: “This is a perfect fit for us because of our shared interests in physics-driven game design and Saber’s resources to help us achieve our long-term vision. We will now be able to rapidly expand and accelerate our plans for Teardown, including bringing it to new audiences, while simultaneously focusing on evolving voxel-based technology for our next generation of games.”
Lee Guinchard, CEO of Embracer Freemode said about the Singtrix acquisition: “The Singtrix team is one of the most highly regarded innovators in music gaming, vocal processing, and entertainment. Their proven track record behind groundbreaking mass music franchises and inspiring singing experiences is without parallel and makes them a perfect fit for Freemode’s plan to vastly expand its entertainment offerings.”
While Tripwire Interactive and Tuxedo Labs have both been acquired via the Group’s Saber Interactive label, Limited Run Games and Singtrix will operate under the newly-established Embracer Freemode group going forward, same as Middle-Earth Enterprises.