Square Enix offload DEUS EX and TOMB RAIDER studios and IPs

Square Enix has announced an intent to sell several of its highest-profile studios and IPs to the Embracer Group. Under the mooted deal, Embracer would buy the studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montreal (totalling 1,100 employees), along with IPs including Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, Thief and Legacy of Kain. Currently in-development projects, like a new Tomb Raider game, will continue under the new owners.

Japanese company Square Enix bought Eidos and Crystal Dynamics in 2009 to shore up their overseas development portfolio. Initially the deal seemed to go well, with Crystal Dynamics releasing a Tomb Raider reboot trilogy (Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider) and Eidos Montreal releasing the well-received and high-selling Deus Ex: Human Revolution. However, subsequent releases seem to have underperformed, at least according to Square Enix's expectations. A Thief reboot in 2014 sold poorly and got mediocre reviews, whilst Deus Ex: Mankind Divided sold poorly in 2016, after a controversial attempt to leverage microtransactions in a single-player game. The Crystal Dynamics-developed Marvel's Avengers also underperformed in 2020, which seemed to impact on sales of Guardians of the Galaxy in 2021 (despite stronger reviews).

However, the long tail on these releases is often quite significant, with the Deus Ex and Tomb Raider games continuing to sell well long after their release. This has led to memes as fans criticise Square for cancelling projects too quickly and in a kneejerk fashion, despite them eventually working out.

The Embracer Group is a Swedish video game holding company and publishes games under the names Nordic Games and THQ Nordic. Embracer recently acquired Gearbox Entertainment, creators of the Borderlands franchise, and board game company Asmodee as a way into the physical gaming market.

What is remarkable is the price: Embracer will get their hands on some of the most popular and beloved IPs in gaming for $300 million, which seems very cheap, and may reflect Square Enix's decision to get out of the overseas market to refocus on their core Japanese brands.

If approved by all the relevant parties, the deal should complete in mid-2023. It's likely the first game released under the new deal will be a new Tomb Raider game, whilst Deus Ex fans will be crossing their fingers for a new game in that franchise.

Square Eidos selling 53 great games (and DAIKATANA) for peanuts

In one of the best-value deals I've ever seen, Square are selling 54 games from their Eidos subsidiary at an unprecedented price (just £28 in the UK).

The list includes the following games:

• Tomb Raider, Tomb Raider II, Tomb Raider III
• Tomb Raider IV: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider V: Chronicles
• Tomb Raider VI: The Angel of Darkness, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Tomb Raider Underworld
• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, Lara Croft GO
• Tomb Raider (2013), Rise of the Tomb Raider
• Just Cause, Just Cause 2, Just Cause 3
• Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Invisible War, Deus Ex: The Fall
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution Director's Cut, Deux Ex: Mankind Divided
• Thief, Thief II: The Metal Age, Thief: Deadly Shadows, Thief (2014)
• Life is Strange: The Complete Season
• Sleeping Dogs: The Definitive Edition
• Kane and Lynch: Dead Men, Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days
• Battlestations: Pacific, Battlestations: Midway
• Dungeon Siege, Dungeon Siege II, Dungeon Siege III
• Conflict: Desert Storm, Conflict: Denied Ops
• Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
• Legacy of Kain: Defiance, Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
• Anachronox
• Omikron: The Nomad Soul
• Daikatana
• Supreme Commander 2
• Project Snowblind, Mini Ninjas, Order of War, Flora's Fruit Farm, Pandemonium
• Pandemonium, Deathtrap Dungeon, Goetia, Hitman Go, The Turing Test

This list includes the entire Tomb Raider franchise from the 1996 original through 2015's Rise of the Tomb Raider (excepting only the most recent game, Shadow of the Tomb Raider); the entire Just Cause series apart from the recent Just Cause 4; the entire Deus Ex and Thief series (arguably the two greatest action-stealth-RPG cross-genre series in gaming history); the first season of the critically-acclaimed Life is Strange series; both Kane and Lynch games; the entire Dungeon Siege trilogy; most of the Legacy of Kain series (excepting only the original Blood Omen, for legal reasons); the two Battlestations games; the two Conflict games; and Supreme Commander 2 (not the far superior first game, which was published elsewhere).

The list contains some splendid curiosities. Project Snowblind was supposed to be Deus Ex shooter spin-off, but became its own thing. Omikron: The Nomad Soul is a 1999 adventure game noteworthy for its soundtrack, composed specifically for the game by Literally David Bowie, who also appears in the game (as does his wife, Iman). It was also David Cage's first video game, paving the way for his later work at Quantic Dream.

The unsung jewel of the collection is the 2001 RPG Anachronox, an offbeat, humour-filled SF epic whose story structure seems to have rather heavily "inspired" BioWare in the later creation of Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect. Anachronox, comfortably one of the funniest video games of all time, also has some of the most quotable dialogue and probably the single greatest RPG companion character (sort of) of all time. Plus your mouse pointer is a sentient robot who is also a member of the party. Barking mad, hugely influential, ugly as hell these days but a classic game.

The collection also contains the fascinating Daikatana, widely-regarded as the single most overhyped video game of all time (possibly excepting only Duke Nuke'Em Forever). Definitely not a good game, but an interesting historical artifact.

Proceeds from the sale are going into coronavirus research.