The majority are small (<30 people) but there are some "crown jewels" like Saber Interactive (600 people), Volition (200 people), Warhorse (131 people), Dambuster Studios (140). 4A Games will be up there with their larger ones (>100).
Damn. That's disappointing. Bad enough they got Volition, now 4A?
Also DECA because I've had Dragonvale installed on my phone since the Galaxy S2 days and they recently acquired it when Hasbro dissolved Backflip Studios.
The majority are small (<30 people) but there are some "crown jewels" like Saber Interactive (600 people), Volition (200 people), Warhorse (131 people), Dambuster Studios (140). 4A Games will be up there with their larger ones (>100).
A Swedish multimillionaire started it a long time ago as Nordic games, it has a very wierd history of being like a game retailer at one point and doing all sorts of random shit. Mostly they buy very very small studios and have had some hits. They've been able to continue their expansion strategy at a very aggressive pace thanks to multiple rounds of investment fundraising over the last 10 years.
Their owner is a relatively young super rich guy, so I suppose it's a passion project or whatever (having looked it up, it seems games got him rich in the first place, so not a passion thing so much as serious business venture).
Embracer Group has raised SEK 1.64 billion ($164 million) through a directed share issue for investment and acquisition…
www.gamesindustry.biz
Embracer Group has raised SEK 1.64 billion ($164 million) through a directed share issue for investment and acquisitions.
Over 100 global companies invested in the THQ Nordic parent company, which last year raised SEK 2 billion ($225 million) for similar expansion efforts.
4A games is probably bigger and will be somehow hit, but do you think the smaller studios will have people let go too? Honest question, I don't know how this things end up working.
Perhaps and in order for MS to have a stable stream of games on Gamepass.. they should make like two big acquisitions.. Embracer group and Sega and call it a day. Huge amount of IPs, many classic IPs.. because I think that bigger acquisitions will be made by either Google or Amazon (if they are serious with their gaming efforts).
Honestly always forget they don't already own 4A, so can't say I'm that surprised by that. THQ Nordic are pretty much the mid sized games industry at this point it seems.
4A games is probably bigger and will be somehow hit, but do you think the smaller studios will have people let go too? Honest question, I don't know how this things end up working.
It's a bummer because THQ Nordic deserve no end of shit after their 8Chan AMA last year. A nasty and unforgivable stunt which they haven't apologised for.
4A games is probably bigger and will be somehow hit, but do you think the smaller studios will have people let go too? Honest question, I don't know how this things end up working.
I mean basically. Microsoft bought all the ones located in expensive places like America and Britain, THQ Nordic bought all the ones located in cheap places.
The list of independent game developers of notable scale is extremely small right now.
To provide background as to 8chan. 8chan as an anonymous message board modeled on 4chan, but meant to be less restrictive than 4chan. As 4chan already restricts very little, in practice what this means is that 8chan is a 4chan clone with a focus on child pornography / pedophilic content.
From Wikipedia:
Additionally, 8chan has a large Neo-Nazi presence, and was the host to Gamergate supporters after 4chan banned them. Blatant anti-semitic, misogynist, and racist posts are extremely common. Additionally, things like doxxing and swatting; the list just goes on.
Because of this, Google has removed 8chan from its search listings. Instead of finding the website, your search results will result in sites like Wikipedia that just tell you what the website is. This is important to note, as if someone interacts with the website, it raises the question of how they even found it in the first place.
THQ's official twitter announces that they're performing an AMA on 8chan's gaming board, /v/:
THQ also notes that they were approached by the gaming board's owner, a Mark (the identity has been guessed at being Mark Kern of Red 5 Studios, a noted Gamergate supporter, but I don't think it's been definitely proven). Cue The Room jokes.
Mark promises to handle the "nasty stuff", which presumably suggests that THQ is aware of the risk of posting on a child pornography supporting message board and wants to avoid legal risks or something along those lines. At any rate, them acknowledging "nasty stuff" tells us that they know it's a possibility here.
Getting a little ahead of ourselves, but they also like a tweet calling criticisms against the AMA on 8chan - again, a site largely defined by its attitute to child pornography - as "sensitive", suggesting a flippant attitude to the whole situation.
We can see a similar attitude expressed in the Linkedin of their PR and Marketing Director, Philipp Brock.
After speculation that maybe this was a hack or a fake, a journalist at PC Games Insider reaches out and confirms that this actually is THQ Nordic.
Some comments from Imran (news editor at Game Informer).
Looking at the activity within the AMA itself. But before you even get to the thread, you have to go to /v/, which was currently advertising a board devoted to pictures (perhaps illustrated) of children at the top of the page. Note that "shotacon" refers to attraction to young boys while "lolicon" refers to attraction to young girls, and "shota" and "loli" to the children themselves.
This would be seen both when posting the thread and going to reply to it.
Note that while 8chan is an anonymous message board and any user can put in any name, there are ways to identify users. I believe IDs are generated on a thread by thread basis and mapped to a certain IP address, but I confess I don't know the specifics of it. In this case, we can see that all of THQ's users are given an ID of 159bc1, which identifies their posts as coming from the same place regardless of what name they put in, perhaps a single company IP being subnetted to multiple users. Additionally, they are given a ## Reporter tag by the board's manager to confirm their official status.
One THQ Nordic name we see is Philipp, the aforementioned PR and marketing director, Philipp Brock.
We can see Philipp assuring an 8chan user that the company will not appeal to social justice. He does not have the ## Reporter tag here, but he does have the 159bc1 ID.
Another post where Philipp tells the user that they've already got "big tiddie lolis" - again, underage girls. Here we have both the 159bc1 ID and the ## Reporter tag.
Here Philipp makes a joke. No ## Reporter tag, but he does have the 159bc1 ID.
Another THQ Nordic name involved is Reinhard. Here we have Reinhard ignoring slurs posted in the AMA. Both the ## Reporter tag and the 159bc1 ID are present.
Reinhard also responds to a homophobic post saying that the image might be from one of their games. Again, the ## Reporter tag and the 159bc1 ID are both present.
Reinhard appears to be Reinhard Pollice, Business & Product Development Director at THQ Nordic. Bear in mind that we're now dealing with a major player within the company, not just someone low on the PR rung. http://www.thqnordic-investors.com/en/board-and-management/
When reached to for a response, Reinhard puts the blame on Philipp.
Another member of THQ Nordic is Fabian. His identity is not confirmed. However, he does have the ## Reporter tag and the same 159bc1 ID.
In another post, he says that he has no idea why they picked 8chan as the venue. Again, he has both the ## Reporter tag and the 159bc1 ID.
Meanwhile, 8channers are whining about ResetEra, because what else would a forum with a big Gamergate continigent do. Other questions contain the sort of content (racism, nazi imagery, etc.) that is expected from this website.
Philipp ultimately provides an apology.
Note that the contents of the apology claim that the issue was due to lack of due diligence and understanding. Also remember that this is a website that is unlisted by Google, that they had spoken the board owner previously and specifically on the topic of "nasty stuff", that they had clearly seen questionable content during the AMA itself, and that they had liked a tweet that claimed that critics of the AMA were just sensitive. The claim made in the apology doesn't match the evidence.
In an interview, Philipp claims that he continued the AMA despite the offensive content because he was overwhelmed.
In another, he defends one of replies in the AMA.
Waypoint reached out to the CEO of THQ Nordic who declined to comment, instead referring to Philipp's apology.
Waypoint also reached out to THQ Nordic's actual developers, who are upset at being tied to this marketing attempt.
Perhaps and in order for MS to have a stable stream of games on Gamepass.. they should make like two big acquisitions.. Embracer group and Sega and call it a day. Huge amount of IPs, many classic IPs.. because I think that bigger acquisitions will be made by either Google or Amazon (if they are serious with their gaming efforts).
Microsoft buying SEGA makes absolutely no sense. I have no idea why it comes up so often in this forum.
SEGA Sammy is too big for them to handle and they have too many non-gaming, non-electronic business ventures. What is Microsoft going to do with SEGA's partially owned zoos or doll businesses?
Perhaps and in order for MS to have a stable stream of games on Gamepass.. they should make like two big acquisitions.. Embracer group and Sega and call it a day. Huge amount of IPs, many classic IPs.. because I think that bigger acquisitions will be made by either Google or Amazon (if they are serious with their gaming efforts).
embracer probably picked up some of these studios for a song. i wouldn't be surprised if some of these studios were struggling due to the economic recession, and their loss was embracer's gain.
it might surprise some people here but video game studios generally aren't all that expensive, relatively speaking. it's the IP that's valuable, usually, and studios that don't have their own valuable IP are worth a lot less.
If they nail Flight Simulator then it is a given that they'll acquire them. Their relationship is very close.
I'm actually surprised MS didn't go for 4A.
4A Games will serve under Saber Interactive. Saber will use 4A Games' technology, and 4A Games will use Saber's live infrastructure for the next Metro game.
The next Metro game will have multiplayer and Saber is co-developing it alongside 4A Games.
"Embracer Group and Saber Interactive are the perfect partners for 4A Games and for our next phase of growth. Together we will continue to build on the Metro franchise and will focus on bringing a multiplayer experience to our fanbase. We look forward to building a new and even more ambitious AAA IP in the near future" says Dean Sharpe, CEO 4A Games
Within the Embracer Group, 4A Games will operate as an independent studio under Saber Interactive. 4A Games will significantly strengthen Saber's development capabilities in Ukraine and are currently collaborating on an entirely new project that combines the AAA production values of 4A Games, combined engine and technology know-how and Saber's experience on multiplayer and live operations. 4A Games has also initiated development on a brand new AAA IP that leverages its decade of experience on developing the Metro series.
Conceived in 2005 when the studio was first established, the 4A Games' development engine has powered all 4A Games' titles to date and is constantly improved in-house to stay at the forefront of innovation in the industry. Natively multi-platform and scalable with robust functionality and integrations, 4A Games' proprietary engine offers leading technology for single player FPS development and compliments Saber Interactive's development and live operations technology.
With the work on Flight Sim, and 10-year contract Asobo signed with MS, I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft has a right to first refusal clause in their agreement.
If they nail Flight Simulator then it is a given that they'll acquire them. Their relationship is very close.
I'm actually surprised MS didn't go for 4A.
Microsoft buying SEGA makes absolutely no sense. I have no idea why it comes up so often in this forum.
SEGA Sammy is too big for them to handle and they have too many non-gaming, non-electronic business ventures. What is Microsoft going to do with SEGA's partially owned zoos or doll businesses?
4A Games will serve under Saber Interactive. Saber will use 4A Games' technology, and 4A Games will use Saber's live infrastructure for the next Metro game.
The next Metro game will have multiplayer and Saber is co-developing it alongside 4A Games.
news.cision.com
embracer.com
en.wikipedia.org
www.gamesindustry.biz
www.gamesindustry.biz
