Embracer Group is a Swedish video game holding company controlled by Lars Wingefors. In 2016, the company was spun out of Nordic Games Group and in 2019 it was renamed Embracer Group.
As of 2024 they own more than 106 internal studios in over 45 countries in Europe and the Americas. Its subsidiaries are organized under ten groups: Amplifier Game Invest, Asmodee, CDE Entertainment, Coffee Stain Holding, Dark Horse Media, DECA Games, Easybrain, Embracer Freemode, Plaion and THQ Nordic. Each group has its own operations, subsidiaries and development studios.
Date | Company | Country | Parent company | Value | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 2017 | Black Forest Games | Germany | THQ Nordic | €1,360,000 | [1] [2] |
Pieces Interactive | Sweden | $350,000 | [3] | ||
November 2017 | Experiment 101 | $8,900,000 | [4] | ||
February 2018 | Koch Media | Austria/ Germany | Plaion | $149,000,000 | [5] |
July 2018 | HandyGames | Germany | THQ Nordic | [6] | |
November 2018 | Coffee Stain Holding
| Sweden | Coffee Stain Holding | $34,900,000 | [7] |
Bugbear Entertainment (90%) | Finland | THQ Nordic | |||
February 2019 | 18Point2 | Australia | Plaion | €1,900,000 | [8] |
Warhorse Studios | Czech Republic | €42,800,000 | [9] | ||
May 2019 | Piranha Bytes | Germany | THQ Nordic | [10] | |
August 2019 | KSM | Plaion | [11] | ||
Gaya Entertainment | [12] | ||||
Milestone | Italy | €44,900,000 | [13] [14] | ||
Gunfire Games | United States | THQ Nordic | [15] | ||
Goodbye Kansas Game Invest
| Sweden | Amplifier Game Invest | $3,950,000 | [16] | |
December 2019 | Tarsier Studios | Sweden | $10,500,000 | [17] | |
February 2020 | Saber Interactive
| United States | Saber Interactive | $525,000,000 | [18] |
Voxler | France | Plaion | €1,900,000 | [19] | |
May 2020 | DestinyBit | Italy | Amplifier Game Invest | [20] | |
August 2020 | 4A Games | Malta/ Ukraine | Saber Interactive | $45,000,000 | [21] |
New World Interactive | United States | ||||
Rare Earth Games | Austria | Amplifier Game Invest | €3,300,000 | ||
Vermila Studios | Spain | €900,000 | |||
Palindrome Interactive (remaining 50%) | Sweden | ||||
Pow Wow Entertainment | Austria | THQ Nordic | |||
DECA Games | Germany | DECA Games | €25,000,000 | ||
Sola Media | Plaion | $2,700,000 | |||
September 2020 | Vertigo Games | Netherlands | €50,000,000 | [22] | |
November 2020 | Flying Wild Hog | Poland | $137,000,000 | [23] | |
Purple Lamp Studios | Austria | THQ Nordic | |||
Zen Studios | Hungary | Saber Interactive | |||
Snapshot Games | Bulgaria | ||||
Nimble Giant Entertainment | Argentina | ||||
34BigThings | Italy | ||||
Mad Head Games | Serbia | ||||
Sandbox Strategies | United States | ||||
A Thinking Ape Entertainment | Canada | DECA Games | $31,000,000 | ||
IUGO Mobile Entertainment | |||||
Coffee Stain North (remaining 40%) | Sweden | Coffee Stain Holding | |||
Silent Games | United Kingdom | Amplifier Game Invest | |||
Quantic Lab (95%) | Romania | €4,500,000 | |||
February 2021 | Gearbox Software
| United States | Gearbox Software | $1,300,000,000 | [24] |
Easybrain | Cyprus/ Belarus | Easybrain | $640,000,000 | [25] | |
Aspyr | United States | Saber Interactive | $450,000,000 | [26] | |
SpringboardVR | United States | Plaion | [27] | ||
May 2021 | Kaiko | Germany | THQ Nordic | [28] | |
Massive Miniteam | |||||
Appeal | Belgium | ||||
Frame Break | Sweden | Amplifier Game Invest | |||
August 2021 | 3D Realms | Denmark/ United States | Saber Interactive | [29] | |
Slipgate Ironworks | Denmark | ||||
CrazyLabs | Israel | DECA Games | |||
DigixArt | France | Plaion | |||
Force Field | Netherlands | ||||
Ghost Ship Games (remaining 65%) | Denmark | Coffee Stain Holding | |||
Easy Trigger | Sweden | ||||
Grimfrost (70%) | THQ Nordic | ||||
Demiurge Studios | United States | Saber Interactive | [30] | ||
Fractured Byte | Estonia | ||||
SmartPhone Labs | Russia | ||||
September 2021 | Bytex | [31] | |||
October 2021 | Jufeng Studio | China | DECA Games | [32] | |
Splatter Connect | United Kingdom | Plaion | [33] | ||
December 2021 | Asmodee
| France | Asmodee | €2,750,000,000 | [34] |
Green Tile Digital | Sweden | Amplifier Game Invest | [35] | ||
Perfect World Entertainment | China | Gearbox Software | $125,000,000 | [36] | |
Spotfilm Networkx | Germany | Plaion | [37] | ||
Shiver Entertainment | United States | Saber Interactive | [38] | ||
Digic Holdings
| Hungary | [39] | |||
Dark Horse Media
| United States | Dark Horse Media | [40] | ||
February 2022 | A Creative Endeavour | Sweden | Amplifier Game Invest | [41] | |
Metricminds | Germany | THQ Nordic | [42] | ||
March 2022 | Development Plus Inc. | United States | Plaion | [43] | |
Invisible Walls | Denmark | Amplifier Game Invest | [44] | ||
April 2022 | Beamdog | Canada | Saber Interactive | [45] | |
Lost Boys Interactive | United States | Gearbox Software | [46] | ||
May 2022 | Assets of Square Enix Europe | CDE Entertainment | $300,000,000 | [47] | |
August 2022 | Tripwire Interactive | United States | Saber Interactive | [48] | |
Tuxedo Labs | Sweden | ||||
Middle-earth Enterprises | United States | Embracer Freemode | |||
Limited Run Games | United States | ||||
Bitwave Games | Sweden | ||||
Gioteck | United Kingdom | ||||
Singtrix | United States | ||||
Tatsujin | Japan | ||||
October 2022 | Anime Limited | United Kingdom / France | Plaion Pictures | [49] [50] [51] | |
VR Distribution | Australia / United Kingdom | Asmodee | [52] | ||
January 2023 | Captured Dimensions | United States | Gearbox Software | [53] |
Date | Company | Operative group | Buyer | Price | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
November 2019 | Foxglove Studios | THQ Nordic | Management buyout | [54] | |
July 2023 | Goose Byte | Amplifier Game Invest | [55] | ||
October 2023 | Fall Damage | Fragbite | $1,800,000 | [56] | |
November 2023 | River End Games | Nordcurrent | [57] | ||
February 2024 | Saber Interactive
| Saber Interactive | Beacon Interactive | $247,000,000 [a] | [58] |
March 2024 | Gearbox Software | Gearbox Entertainment | Take-Two Interactive | $460,000,000 | [59] |
Rainbow Studios | THQ Nordic | Management buyout | [60] | ||
May 2024 | Shiver Entertainment | Saber Interactive | Nintendo | [61] | |
November 2024 | Easybrain | Easybrain | Miniclip | $1,200,000,000 | [62] |
THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initially working in the toy business, it expanded into the video game business through several acquisitions before shifting its focus away from toys entirely. THQ continued its trend of acquiring companies throughout the 2000s.
Gearbox Software, L.L.C is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, serves as president and chief executive officer. Gearbox initially created expansions for the Valve game Half-Life, then ported that game and others to console platforms. In 2005, Gearbox launched its first independent set of games, Brothers in Arms, on console and mobile devices. It became their flagship franchise and spun off a comic book series, television documentary, books, and action figures. Their second original game series, Borderlands, commenced in 2009, and by 2015 had sold over 26 million copies. The company also owns the intellectual property of Duke Nukem and Homeworld.
Deep Silver is an Austrian video game publisher and a division of Plaion.
Deep Silver Volition, LLC was an American video game developer based in Champaign, Illinois. Mike Kulas and Matt Toschlog founded the company as Parallax Software in June 1993, developing Descent and Descent II. By the time the sequel was completed, Toschlog had relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan, with some employees to operate a satellite studio for Parallax. Kulas and Toschlog decided to split up the company, with Toschlog establishing Outrage Entertainment and Kulas staying with Parallax, which was renamed Volition in November 1996. With publisher Interplay Entertainment, Volition created Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War and its sequel, FreeSpace 2. The two companies parted ways during the development of Summoner.
Bugbear Entertainment Oy is a Finnish video game developer based in Helsinki, founded by Janne Alanenpää in 2000. The company is best known for the FlatOut series and Wreckfest. In November 2018, a majority stake of the company was acquired by THQ Nordic.
Milestone S.r.l. is an Italian video game developer based in Milan. Founded in 1994 by Antonio Farina, the studio specialises in racing games, especially motorcycle racing games. The company began under the name Graffiti, developing the car racing game Screamer. After the studio rebranded as Milestone in 1996, it used Screamer's success for multi-game publishing deals with Virgin Interactive and Electronic Arts. The poor performance of Racing Evoluzione, published by Atari with little marketing, lead to key figures leaving Milestone. As part of Leader Group from 2002 on, the studio hired many younger developers and developed multiple games for multiple platforms, including several based on the Superbike World Championship. This shaped Milestone's identity as a developer of motorcycle racing games. After detaching from Leader Group in 2011, the studio obtained the license for MotoGP games in 2013. In 2019, Milestone was acquired by Koch Media.
Plaion is a German-Austrian media company headquartered in Höfen, Tyrol, Austria, with an operating subsidiary based in Planegg, Germany. The company was founded in 1994 by Franz Koch and Klemens Kundratitz. The company operates video game publishing labels Deep Silver, Prime Matter and Ravenscourt, the video game developers Warhorse Studios and Milestone, as well as a film distribution arm, Plaion Pictures. Koch Media's parent company, Koch Media Holding, was acquired by Swedish holding company Embracer Group in February 2018.
4A Games Limited is a Ukrainian-Maltese video game developer based in Sliema, Malta. The company was founded in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2006 by three developers who departed from GSC Game World. In 2014, 4A Games moved its headquarters to Sliema, wherein the Kyiv office was retained as a sub-studio. The company is best known for developing the Metro video game series.
www.handy-games.com GmbH is a German video game developer and publisher based in Giebelstadt. In July 2018, the company was acquired by THQ Nordic.
Coffee Stain Studios AB is a Swedish video game developer based in Skövde. Founded in 2010 by nine University of Skövde students, the company is best known for Goat Simulator, which was released in April 2014, and Satisfactory, released in September 2024. Their parent holding company also operates Coffee Stain Publishing, a publisher, and majority-owns developers Coffee Stain North and Lavapotion. In November 2018, the Coffee Stain group was acquired by THQ Nordic AB.
Warhorse Studios s.r.o. is a Czech video game developer based in Prague. Founded in July 2011 by Dan Vávra and Martin Klíma, the studio produced Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which was released in February 2018. In February 2019, the company was acquired by Plaion.
THQ Nordic GmbH is an Austrian video game publisher based in Vienna. Formed in 2011, it is a publishing subsidiary of Embracer Group. Originally named Nordic Games, as was the parent company, both companies were renamed THQ Nordic in August 2016 after the parent company had acquired the "THQ" trademark in 2014.
Slipgate Ironworks ApS is a Danish video game developer based in Aalborg, founded in 2010 by Frederik Schreiber.
Deep Silver Dambuster Studios Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Nottingham, England and owned by Deep Silver, itself part of the Embracer Group-owned Plaion. The studio was founded on 30 July 2014, and was set up initially to take over the development of Homefront: The Revolution from Crytek UK; which was closed later that same day, transferring all of its employees to Dambuster.
Gunfire Games, LLC is an American video game developer based in Austin, Texas. The studio was founded by David Adams in July 2014, bringing with him the core team of Crytek USA just before that studio's closure. The company was acquired by THQ Nordic in August 2019.
Embracer Group AB is a Swedish video game and media holding company based in Karlstad. The company comprises 9 operative groups: Amplifier Game Invest, Asmodee, CDE Entertainment, Coffee Stain, Dark Horse Media, Deca Games, Freemode, Plaion, and THQ Nordic.
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