I have a feeling that in 5-6 years, Embracer will be the subject of “What the hell happened?” articles.

That's an interesting question. BD is basically a spinoff of FF3, similar to how the SaGa series is basically a spinoff of FF2 (the job system, the Warriors of Light thing). Triangle Strategy is more of a FF Tactics thing. Nintendo should honestly buy these IPs.

Dragon Quest's developers always seem to have had better relationships with Nintendo than Final Fantasy developers did. Enix never completely cut off Nintendo the way Square did, and I am pretty sure that the reconciliation between Nintendo and Square Enix that occurred during the GC era was probably facilitiated by the company's Enix management. Every Dragon Quest game is available on a Nintendo platform.

So... there are rumors that Microsoft paid $100 million for 1 year of exclusivity for Rise of the Tomb Raider back in 2015. So now you get the whole IP, plus the studio that made it (plus a whole lot of other stuff) for $300 million? What? Has Square Enix mismanaged these studios that badly?

Just because there are no reports do not mean there isn't a lot of communication going on.  We have reports that regulators are going to be more aggressive on large purchases and they did not say just MS, they said all purchases in the tech space. Trust me, I have gone through a number of these purchase and its a lot of work.  Everything does not get reported all the time.  It only takes one competitor that sends a letter to get things started.  Also businesses like for a smooth journey through the process, no conditions or other BS from regulators to get the job done.

Crazy deal.. Embracer is also paying their debts as well so its much more than the 300M would suggest.

On a side note. Please bring back Sleeping Dogs Embracer. That IP deserves another chance!

I still can't believe this deal happened. Embracer can make their money back on this deal so easily. If Embracer has a single game sell 10 million copies at $60 a piece, they've literally doubled the amount they spent on all of Square's western divisions. That's how little Square valued it.

Square will start trashing all of their IP's. I'm worried for upcoming Square games that will have no business having NFT's, but will.

Pump more into FF games. They print money.

Seeing one of the biggest reasons Square sold their western division was to further invest into blockchain gaming, makes me worry that Square is going to start losing even more players if they start infecting their core franchises like FF and Kingdom Hearts with stuff like this. 

If I see FFVII Remake Part 2 or Kingdom Heart IV has NFT's, I'm out. 

Well, SE's strategy after the sale mentioned they will further dabble in amazing concepts like blockchain and the cloud.

So yeah, NFTs are unfortunately more likely than FFs, though a IX remake is supposedly on the works.

and @haxxiy

SE explains the reasoning for the selling here..

https://www.hd.square-enix.com/eng/news/pdf/20220502%20A_Press%20Release_fin.pdf

"The Transaction will assist the Company in adapting to the changes underway in the global business environment by establishing a more efficient allocation of resources, which will enhance corporate value by accelerating growth in the Company's core businesses in the digital entertainment domain. In addition, the Transaction enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud. The move is based on the policy of business structure optimization that the Company set forth under the medium-term business strategy unveiled on May 13, 2021.

The Transaction will also provide an opportunity to better align our overseas publishing function with our organization in Tokyo, revisit the current governance structure and associated reporting lines, and advance integrated group management with the goal of maximizing the worldwide revenue generated from future titles launched by the group's studios in Japan and abroad.

Going forward, the Company's development function will comprise its studios in Japan, Square Enix External Studios, and Square Enix Collective. The Company's overseas studios will continue to publish franchises such as JUST CAUSE, OUTRIDERS, and Life is Strange."

In short they'll invest into blockchain AND double down on their more successful parts of the business, which definitely includes Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts etc.

They are basically trimming off their not much profitable western output, while testing the waters with blockchain and NFT. Why they would suddenly stop making quality games that give them revenue? :s