In June 2023, Embracer Group announced it would conduct a months-long reorganization, after a deal that would have given the gaming and entertainment company some much-needed capital fell through. The result was that the company laid off thousands of employees, shut down studios like Volition and Free Radical Design, and sold off games and studios under Saber Interactive and Gearbox Entertainment to other companies.
Now Embracer Group has revealed it will be breaking itself up into three stand-alone and publicly traded companies. In a press release, it outlined where each game studio will end up,
The three new companies that will arise from the ashes of Embracer Group will be:
Asmodee - This will be the company that will take over Embracer"s board game, trading card game, and digital board game titles along with 23 studios. It owns board and trading card game properties like Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders, Azul, CATAN, Dobble, and Exploding Kittens. It also makes licensed games in those genres based on Marvel, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and others. The company is expected to become official within the next 12 months
“Coffee Stain & Friends” - This is a working name for the company that will include Embracer"s smaller indie PC, console, and mobile video games. It will include developers like Coffee Stain, Ghost Ship, Tarsier, and Tuxedo Labs, along with the publisher THQ Nordic. The games that will be under its control will include Deep Rock Galactic, Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Wreckfest, Teardown, and Valheim. It will also be the home for Embracer"s free-to-play games including Neverwinter Online and Star Trek Online which are developed by Cryptic. The spinoff will become official, along with its final name, sometime in 2025.
“Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends” - Again, this is a working name for the company that will be in charge of Embracer"s major AAA game developers and titles. The studios under this company will include Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Eidos-Montréal, Flying Wild Hog Studios, Tripwire, Vertigo Games, Warhorse Studios, and 4A Games. The game Properties under this business will include Dead Island, Killing Floor, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Metro, and Tomb Raider.
This company will also be the home of Middle-earth Enterprises, which is in charge of licensing deals for the properties like Lord of the Rings that were created by J.R.R. Tolkien. It will also have other entertainment companies under its wing like Dark Horse Comics.
This company will basically be what"s left of the current Embracer Group after the two spinoffs but it will get a new and official name in the near future.