What exactly is Nintendo’s interest in Shiver, you might ask? Well, Shiver has been responsible for a Nintendo Switch ports of a couple of major third-party releases, including Hogwarts Legacy and Mortal Kombat 11. As per Nintendo, Shiver will continue to work on porting games for “multiple platforms including Switch” – which likely refers to the Switch’s upcoming successor – while also providing development support for Nintendo’s own titles.

“Nintendo will acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Shiver and make it a wholly owned subsidiary,” the company’s announcement reads. “By welcoming Shiver’s experienced and accomplished development team, Nintendo aims to secure high-level resources for porting and developing software titles. Going forward, even after it becomes a part of the Nintendo group, Shiver’s focus will remain the same, continuing commissions that port and develop software for multiple platforms including Nintendo Switch.”

Details on the transactional value of the acquisition haven’t been shared, but Nintendo says the purchase will “have only a minor effect” on its results for the ongoing fiscal year.

For starters, a number of studios that were operating under the Saber Interactive label will be part of Embracer Group’s divestment. That will include 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks, New World Interactive, Nimble Giant, Sandbox Strategies, Mad Head Games, Fractured Byte, and Digic. In total, Embracer says its divested assets include 38 ongoing game projects, as well as “certain proprietary engine technology and game tools relating to the divested companies.”

However, a number of studios that were previously operating under Saber are not being divested, and will continue to be owned by Embracer Group. This includes Tuxedo Labs (as well as the ongoing development of Teardown), Demiurge Studios, Beamdog, 34 Big Things, Tripwire Interactive, Snapshot Games, Shiver Entertainment, and Aspyr Media.

Embracer is also retaining control of ownership of 14 projects that were previously under Saber Interactive’s oversight, including two that are being worked on as joint projects with Saber itself.

These 14 projects include 4A Games’ next AAA project (which is presumably the next Metro game), a “previously announced AAA game based on a major license”, an unannounced AAA title that’s currently in the concept stage of production, a new AAA multiplayer shooter based on an IP owned by Embracer, a new AA game based on an Asmodee-owned IP, a new AA game by 34 Big Things based on an IP owned by Embracer, and the entire back catalog and all future upcoming projects by Aspyr Media, Tripwire Interactive (including Killing Floor 3), and Zen Studios.

It’s also been confirmed that Embracer and Saber’s deal includes an option for the latter to acquire Zen Studios and Metro developer 4A Games, though licensing and publishing rights for all existing and future Metro titles will be retained by Embracer Group’s PLAION.

Reports had previously indicated that development of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Remake would continue at Saber Interactive following the deal’s completion, though that has yet to be officially confirmed.

Neverwinter developer Cryptic Studios and publisher Perfect World Entertainment has also been acquired through the Gearbox Entertainment Company. Perfect World will act as a subsidiary for Gearbox going forward with a new title planned for launch in 2022 and five more releases coming by 2024. Animation studio DIGIC, which is known for its cinematics and trailers, and developer Shiver Entertainment have also been acquired via Saber Interactive.

The latter was founded by veterans John Schappert and Jason Andersen with a focus on development and porting titles of various genres and across different platforms. With the new year upon us, what other companies will the Embracer Group add to its roster? Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

We reported earlier about the Switch version of Mortal Kombat 11 being a bit behind in its update schedule. It seems the same could be said for the PC version as well, as it lacked some of the recent updates that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions got. The Switch and PC ports were handled by different companies, Shiver and QLOC respectively, so things like this happen in that situation sometimes. Thankfully, the big balancing patch that addressed many of the criticisms about the in-game economy already came out, but this new update brings the two versions in line with the PS4 and Xbox One’s update schedule- and the PC version even got a little bonus.

Via the game’s official Reddit, patch notes for both versions have been posted. They include more tweaking to the game’s Towers of Time mode, game rewards, enemy AI adjustment, and a lot more. The PC version even gets a little extra, as it adds some new shadow optimization options. You can head on below for the list of patch notes, or check out the Switch list here, and the PC one here.

Mortal Kombat 11 is available now for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. Check our take on the game here.

Mortal Kombat 11 May 9 Switch patch release

General

• Link with Mortal Kombat mobile app for bonus rewards
• Community “Thank You” gift with 500,000 Koins, 1,000 Souls, 1,000 Time Crystals, and 500 Hearts
• Bug fixes and overall stability improvements
• Soul Rewards increased 50%
• AI Fighter reaction times increased and max input length decreased
• Fatality count for head spikes decreased
• Move list and frame data corrections
• Integrated launch day gameplay server-side data
• Tweaks to online match-making
• AI adjustments
• Corrected some incorrect instruction text in tutorial mode
• Increased rewards for breakables in The Krypt
• Adjusted rewards from AI Battle mode
• Increased Koin rewards for winning Ranked Matches

Towers of Time

• Modifier damage reduction for fire, DoT, electric storm, etc.
• Modifier intervals in the Gauntlet increased
• Adjusted AI difficulty curve
• Further opponent health reductions in higher level Towers
• Adjusted and removed modifiers from many Daily Towers
• Increased Koin Rewards for kompleting Towers and Tower Platforms
• Increased Dragon Challenge Koin rewards
• Increased post fight Koin rewards
• Increased amount of Hearts earned from Fatalities, Brutalities, and Mercies
• Lowered modifier damage for many modifiers
• Adjusted the lifespan of several modifiers
• Dramatically increased cooldowns on Tag Assist modifiers
• Several Gift/Curse Modifiers are now considered projectiles allowing them to interact with moves that effect projectiles as intended
• Adjusted Gauntlet difficulty and progression requirements
• Disabler Konsumables now work with all intended modifiers
• Improved targeting for several Konsumables
• Sektor Hunter Killer Protocol Modifier is now disabled by the Rocket Disabler Konsumable
• Corrected some multipliers on Augments for some characters which were inconsistent with others
• Fixed incorrect Armor interactions with some Modifiers
• Decreased Konsumable cooldowns for players

Mortal Kombat 11 May 9 PC patch release notes

• Temporarily disabled the RGB Lighting feature from online matches to prevent desyncs from occurring at the “FINISH HIM” screen
• Fixed an issue that caused the audio to go out of sync with the Story mode cutscenes
• Fixed a crash that occurred when obtaining Kenshi’s Blindfold in the Krypt
• Fixed an issue where the GPU Autodetection could cause the title to go unresponsive when booting up the title for the first time
• Fixed a crash that could occur when disconnecting a controller in a local multiplayer fight when using at least one DualShock4 controller
• Fixed an issue where disconnecting a controller after a local two player fight would make the title unresponsive
• Fixed an issue where the title would not launch properly if the Steam folder path contained diacritic marks
• Fixed a rare case where the game would not launch because of an assertion error
• Added additional Shadow optimizations which help improve overall performance
• Various minor Mouse and Keyboard fixes