The Embracer Group has just made probably one of its biggest acquisitions to date. The company has announced that it’s entered into an agreement to wholly acquire Middle-Earth Enterprises from The Saul Zaentz Company. Going forward, it will operate under the newly-established Embracer Freemode.
For those unaware, Middle-Earth Enterprises owns and oversees the intellectual property catalogue and rights to films, video games, merchandising, theme parks, and more relating to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as rights in other Middle-earth-related literary works authorized by the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins.
That’s right, the Embracer Group just owns all of The Lord of the Rings now, not just the license to develop games based on it.
“I am truly excited to have The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, one of the world’s most epic fantasy franchises join the Embracer family, opening up more transmedia opportunities including synergies across our global group,” said the Embracer Group’s CEO and founder Lars Wingefors. “I am thrilled to see what lies in the future for this IP with Freemode and Asmodee as a start within the group. Going forward, we also look forward to collaborating with both existing and new external licensees of our increasingly stronger IP portfolio.”
“We at the Zaentz Company have had the honor over the past half century of stewarding the Tolkien rights so that Lord of the Rings and Hobbit fans worldwide could enjoy award winning epic films, challenging video games, first rate theatre and merchandise of every variety,” said Marty Glick, COO of The Saul Zaentz Company. “We could not be more thrilled that it is Embracer now taking up the responsibility and we are confident their group will take it to new heights and dimensions while maintaining homage to the spirit of these great literary works.”
This is one of several recent acquisitions made by the Embracer Group, with the company also purchasing game development studios like Tripwire Interactive, Limited Run Games, Tuxedo Labs, and more. Read more on that through here.