The Embracer Group, which consists of THQ Nordic among a number of other companies, has announced a slate of acquisitions today. Among the eight studios it’s acquired are Palindrome Interactive, Sola Media and New World Interactive (known for Insurgency: Sandstorm). However, among these acquisitions is 4A Games, best known for the Metro series.
Saber Interactive CEO and Embracer Board director Matt Karch said that, “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.”
The Embracer Group acquired 100 percent of shares in the developer, which amounts to 36 MUSD in upfront purchase price. 4A Games CEO Dean Sharpe stated that, “Embracer Group and Saber Interactive are the perfect partners for 4A Games and for our next phase of growth. Together we will continue to build on the Metro franchise and will focus on bringing a multiplayer experience to our fanbase. We look forward to building a new and even more ambitious AAA IP in the near future.”
The “multiplayer experience” part sounds interesting because 4A Games is known best for its single-player, story-driven titles. Nevertheless, there’s also that new triple A IP which is “even more ambitious.” The terms used indicate this to be a brand new title as opposed to another sequel in the Metro series. But we’ll need to wait for more information.
The acquisition isn’t too surprising all in all. 4A Games has worked with Deep Silver as its publisher many times with the latter’s parent company being the Embracer Group. The developer’s most recent title was Metro Exodus, which launched last year for Xbox One, PS4 and PC via the Epic Games Store. It arrived on Steam earlier this year and managed to sell 200,00 copies in its first week.
