Embracer Group Acquires Demiurge Studios, Fractured Byte, and SmartPhone Labs - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 18 August 2021 / 1,512 Views
Embracer Group announced it has acquired Demiurge Studios, Fractured Byte, and SmartPhone Labs. The studios will be part of its Saber Interactive subsidiary.
Here is an overview of the acquisitions:
Demiurge Studios
Embracer Group AB, through its wholly owned subsidiary Saber Interactive Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Demiurge Studios, Inc. from its current owners. Demiurge is an independent games development studio based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, US. Through the transaction, Saber onboards an experienced team of developers and strengthens its footprint in the United States.
Through the acquisition, Saber onboards a talented team that will strengthen Embracer’s work-for-hire capabilities with significant experience of AAA game development. Demiurge further builds on Saber’s footprint in the US and enables direct access to Boston, a city with tremendous talent and a major hub of game development on the East Coast.
Fractured Byte
Embracer Group AB, through its wholly owned subsidiary Saber Interactive Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in OU Fractured Byte. Fractured Byte is a well-regarded game studio, with headquarters in Estonia and a team of approx. 50 developers based across Ukraine, primarily working with independent game development and porting projects. Through the acquisition, Saber onboards a creative and cost-effective studio with a founder-led team, that will continue to collaborate with Saber on development projects.
Through the acquisition, Saber onboards an experienced team that adds to Embracer’s work-for-hire capabilities and continues to build on the longstanding relationship with the studio. Going forward, Fractured Byte will continue to operate as a subsidiary to Saber and work closely with the Saber team on internal and external game development projects.
Smartphone Labs
Embracer Group AB, through its wholly owned subsidiary Saber Interactive Inc., has entered into an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Russian-based SmartPhone Labs, an independent software testing and games development company for mobile, PC, consoles and VR, from its founders.
Within Embracer, SPL will operate as a subsidiary under Saber Interactive, with continued focus on software testing and games development. With the acquisition of SPL, that was owned by the founders and current management, Saber will onboard an experienced team and will further strengthen Saber’s position in Russia and Eastern Europe.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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I assume they're just acquiring all of these tiny studios to acquire their people. Many of these have no appreciable games that I'm aware of, so the only reason to buy them would be to get the talent. (Not speaking of any studios in particular, as I know they have acquired many that do have games. But a lot of these appear to be basically nothing companies.)
I wonder if this means they’re planning to bring more of their franchises to mobile?
They'll just keep buying tiny studios forever.
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