THQ Nordic parent company Embracer Group has announced a spate of acquisitions, including a number of game studios.
The most notable move was the purchase of Metro developer 4A Games for $36 million. Embracer made the acquisition through its wholly-owned subsidiary Saber Interactive, and said the deal will strength its development capabilities.
“Embracer Group and Saber Interactive are the perfect partners for 4A Games and for our next phase of growth,” commented 4A Games chief exec, Dean Sharpe. “Together we will continue to build on the Metro franchise and will focus on bringing a multiplayer experience to our fan base. We look forward to building a new and even more ambitious AAA IP in the near future.”
Embracer has also acquired Insurgency: Sandstorm developer New World Interactive for an undisclosed fee, along with Spain-based Crisol: Theater of Idols dev Vermila Studios for €0.9 million ($1.06 million). The former will become Embracer’s first Canadian studio, while the latter will expand the company’s presence in Europe.
Three more studios were also added to the Embracer family. The first, Austrian developer Pow Wow Entertainment, was purchased through THQ Nordic for an undisclosed fee. Pow Wow is primarily focused on PC and console development, and is currently working on two unannounced titles — one of which is based on an THQ Nordic property.
Rounding out its series of studio acquisitions, Embracer then nabbed Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars developer Palindrome Interactive and another Austrian studio Rare Earth Games.
Both were purchased through the company’s Amplifier game invest subsidiary, which bought the latter for an upfront consideration of €0.3 million ($0.35 million). Swedish developer Palindrome, meanwhile, was already partially owned by Amplifier, which has now acquired the remaining 50 percent stake in the studio.
Finally, the company also purchased 100 percent of German mobile live ops provider Deca for €25 million ($29.6 million) and Stuggart-based film and TV distributor Sola Media for €2.3 million ($2.7 million).