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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Remember when Embracer group acquired joke IP's back then? But now they are acquiring big IP's. Are they becoming dangerous?

theRepublic on 23 August 2022
Ka-pi96 said:
theRepublic said:

That's what everyone thought about Star Wars, and then EA didn't do shit with the license.  There is a good reason they lost exclusivity 2 years before it was set to expire.

Between 2015 and 2020 I count 4 console games, 1 mobile game and 4 DLCs. That's less than people expected, yes, but it's still way more than Embracer have done for any of the IPs they've bought so far.

EA got exclusivity in May 2013.  So we got:

2013 - Nothing
2014 - Nothing
2015 - November - Battlefront (Multiplayer only and a loot box controversy)
2016 - Nothing
2017 - November - Battlefront 2 (still with loot box controversy)
2018 - Nothing
2019 - November - Jedi: Fallen Order
2020 - October - Squadrons
2021 - January - EA loses the exclusive license

That is so much worse than when LucasArts was in control.  Before the exclusive license we were usually getting multiple games a year.

Not sure why you are so down on Embracer when the vast majority of their acquisitions have been in just the last couple of years.  What do you expect to happen so fast?  9 studios were just acquired this year.  34 studios were acquired in 2021.  Another 32 were acquired or founded in 2020.  All their mobile studios were acquired in 2020 or 2021.  Mostly, Embracer group seems to be acting as a holding company with a relatively hands-off approach to their developers.  We will see if that continues, but for now, that is all they are.



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DonFerrari on 23 August 2022
theRepublic said:
Ka-pi96 said:

Between 2015 and 2020 I count 4 console games, 1 mobile game and 4 DLCs. That's less than people expected, yes, but it's still way more than Embracer have done for any of the IPs they've bought so far.

EA got exclusivity in May 2013.  So we got:

2013 - Nothing
2014 - Nothing
2015 - November - Battlefront (Multiplayer only and a loot box controversy)
2016 - Nothing
2017 - November - Battlefront 2 (still with loot box controversy)
2018 - Nothing
2019 - November - Jedi: Fallen Order
2020 - October - Squadrons
2021 - January - EA loses the exclusive license

That is so much worse than when LucasArts was in control.  Before the exclusive license we were usually getting multiple games a year.

Not sure why you are so down on Embracer when the vast majority of their acquisitions have been in just the last couple of years.  What do you expect to happen so fast?  9 studios were just acquired this year.  34 studios were acquired in 2021.  Another 32 were acquired or founded in 2020.  All their mobile studios were acquired in 2020 or 2021.  Mostly, Embracer group seems to be acting as a holding company with a relatively hands-off approach to their developers.  We will see if that continues, but for now, that is all they are.

Gaming development is continuously harder and longer, so expecting similar level of output on a 20 year difference window won't help anyone.

NES, SNES and even some PS1 titles were concluded in less than 4 months dev time. A similar received/scope game nowadays would be 5 years in development.



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

theRepublic on 24 August 2022
Ka-pi96 said:
theRepublic said:

EA got exclusivity in May 2013.  So we got:

2013 - Nothing
2014 - Nothing
2015 - November - Battlefront (Multiplayer only and a loot box controversy)
2016 - Nothing
2017 - November - Battlefront 2 (still with loot box controversy)
2018 - Nothing
2019 - November - Jedi: Fallen Order
2020 - October - Squadrons
2021 - January - EA loses the exclusive license

That is so much worse than when LucasArts was in control.  Before the exclusive license we were usually getting multiple games a year.

Not sure why you are so down on Embracer when the vast majority of their acquisitions have been in just the last couple of years.  What do you expect to happen so fast?  9 studios were just acquired this year.  34 studios were acquired in 2021.  Another 32 were acquired or founded in 2020.  All their mobile studios were acquired in 2020 or 2021.  Mostly, Embracer group seems to be acting as a holding company with a relatively hands-off approach to their developers.  We will see if that continues, but for now, that is all they are.

And that's still much more than Embracer have done for a single one of the IPs they've acquired (I believe at least, it certainly far exceeds their average output even if not everything).

My point still stands. When EA acquired the Star Wars licence you knew games were coming. Maybe not as many as people hoped but in the 3rd year we had a new AAA console game. Embracer have barely even done many ports/remasters for the IPs they've acquired let alone made new AAA games for them.

Did you just not look at what games they have coming?  From the latest report:

ANNOUNCED PC/CONSOLE RELEASES AS OF AUGUST 18, 2022
ProtoCorgi
Lets's sing Abba
Kona 2: Brume
Saints Row
Dead Island 2
Payday 3
Gungrave G.O.R.E.
Scars Above
The Chant
Echoes of The End
Final Form
The New Painkiller
Evil West
Mato Anomalies
Mount & Blade II Bannerlord (full release)
Yum Yum Cookstar
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
System Shock Remastered
The Last Oricru
Gothic - Remake
Knights of Honor II: Sovereign
Destroy All Humans! 2 - Reprobed
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake
Outcast 2 - A New Beginning
Jagged Alliance 3
Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?
The Valiant
Stuntfest - World Tour
SpellForce: Conquest of Eo!
SuperPower 3
All Elite Wrestling
Alone in the Dark
Wreckreation
Tempest Rising
Space For Sale
A Rat´s Quest
Airhead
De-Exit
Perish
Lightyear Frontier
Crisol: Theater of Idols
Star Wars™: Knights of the Old Republic -Remake
A Quiet Place
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II
Dakar: Desert Rally
Circus Electrique
Core Decay
Kingpin: Reloaded
Homeworld 3
Hyper Light Breaker
Goat Simulator 3

I'm not going to do any more of the work for you.  If you want to find releases from 2021 for example, you can check the report for that year.  They are separated out by individual publisher, and are way too many to list here.

https://embracer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Embracer-Annual-Report-and-Sustainability-Report-2021.pdf

Here are all the reports.

https://embracer.com/investors/reports-presentations/

Last edited by theRepublic - on 24 August 2022

Switch Code: SW-7377-9189-3397 -- Nintendo Network ID: theRepublic -- Steam ID: theRepublic

Now Playing
Switch - Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
Switch - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019)
Switch - Bastion (2011/2018)
3DS - Star Fox 64 3D (2011)
3DS - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Trilogy) (2005/2014)
Wii U - Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (2010/2017)
Mobile - The Simpson's Tapped Out and Yugioh Duel Links
PC - Deep Rock Galactic (2020)

theRepublic on 24 August 2022
DonFerrari said:
theRepublic said:

EA got exclusivity in May 2013.  So we got:

2013 - Nothing
2014 - Nothing
2015 - November - Battlefront (Multiplayer only and a loot box controversy)
2016 - Nothing
2017 - November - Battlefront 2 (still with loot box controversy)
2018 - Nothing
2019 - November - Jedi: Fallen Order
2020 - October - Squadrons
2021 - January - EA loses the exclusive license

That is so much worse than when LucasArts was in control.  Before the exclusive license we were usually getting multiple games a year.

Not sure why you are so down on Embracer when the vast majority of their acquisitions have been in just the last couple of years.  What do you expect to happen so fast?  9 studios were just acquired this year.  34 studios were acquired in 2021.  Another 32 were acquired or founded in 2020.  All their mobile studios were acquired in 2020 or 2021.  Mostly, Embracer group seems to be acting as a holding company with a relatively hands-off approach to their developers.  We will see if that continues, but for now, that is all they are.

Gaming development is continuously harder and longer, so expecting similar level of output on a 20 year difference window won't help anyone.

NES, SNES and even some PS1 titles were concluded in less than 4 months dev time. A similar received/scope game nowadays would be 5 years in development.

That is true, but the other big difference is that when LucasArts was in charge, they worked with a lot of different developers to deliver games.  Star Wars games were a huge part of the identity of LucasArts.  That was a huge focus of the compamy.  Once EA got the license that all changed.  It was just another license to them, and clearly not a big focus.  How could it be compared to LucasArts?



Switch Code: SW-7377-9189-3397 -- Nintendo Network ID: theRepublic -- Steam ID: theRepublic

Now Playing
Switch - Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
Switch - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019)
Switch - Bastion (2011/2018)
3DS - Star Fox 64 3D (2011)
3DS - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Trilogy) (2005/2014)
Wii U - Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (2010/2017)
Mobile - The Simpson's Tapped Out and Yugioh Duel Links
PC - Deep Rock Galactic (2020)

DonFerrari on 24 August 2022
theRepublic said:
DonFerrari said:

Gaming development is continuously harder and longer, so expecting similar level of output on a 20 year difference window won't help anyone.

NES, SNES and even some PS1 titles were concluded in less than 4 months dev time. A similar received/scope game nowadays would be 5 years in development.

That is true, but the other big difference is that when LucasArts was in charge, they worked with a lot of different developers to deliver games.  Star Wars games were a huge part of the identity of LucasArts.  That was a huge focus of the compamy.  Once EA got the license that all changed.  It was just another license to them, and clearly not a big focus.  How could it be compared to LucasArts?

On that I certainly agree with you.

The license could have been done like the one granted to Insomniac. They don't have exclusive rights to make any and all Marvel games, they were just granted permission to make games under SM universe (and other can still do it as well if they pay for it).



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

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theRepublic on 24 August 2022
DonFerrari said:
theRepublic said:

That is true, but the other big difference is that when LucasArts was in charge, they worked with a lot of different developers to deliver games.  Star Wars games were a huge part of the identity of LucasArts.  That was a huge focus of the compamy.  Once EA got the license that all changed.  It was just another license to them, and clearly not a big focus.  How could it be compared to LucasArts?

On that I certainly agree with you.

The license could have been done like the one granted to Insomniac. They don't have exclusive rights to make any and all Marvel games, they were just granted permission to make games under SM universe (and other can still do it as well if they pay for it).

Yeah, Disney screwed that up when they took over, and took way too long to realize it.



Switch Code: SW-7377-9189-3397 -- Nintendo Network ID: theRepublic -- Steam ID: theRepublic

Now Playing
Switch - Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
Switch - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019)
Switch - Bastion (2011/2018)
3DS - Star Fox 64 3D (2011)
3DS - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Trilogy) (2005/2014)
Wii U - Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (2010/2017)
Mobile - The Simpson's Tapped Out and Yugioh Duel Links
PC - Deep Rock Galactic (2020)

Chazore on 24 August 2022

Sure they are acquiring left and right, but are they really producing bangers, and in a steady flow?.

As far as I can see they've only just bought the IP's and studios within the last 3-4 years and still haven't put out a load of memorable games. They just recently released the SR reboot and it already has flop written all over it, bugs and all.

They'll only become dangerous if they actually become competent and have a steady release schedule.



Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see

So pay up motherfuckers you belong to "V"

DonFerrari on 25 August 2022
Chazore said:

Sure they are acquiring left and right, but are they really producing bangers, and in a steady flow?.

As far as I can see they've only just bought the IP's and studios within the last 3-4 years and still haven't put out a load of memorable games. They just recently released the SR reboot and it already has flop written all over it, bugs and all.

They'll only become dangerous if they actually become competent and have a steady release schedule.

For me it is much more dangerous if they acquire and don't release good games with consistence.



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

Chazore on 26 August 2022
DonFerrari said:

For me it is much more dangerous if they acquire and don't release good games with consistence.

Well if they release flop after flop, there isn't much they can do to the rest of the industry if they are the ones failing, and Xbox/Sony/Nintendo/other pubs end up rising above them in terms of sales/quality titles. 

Of course it'd be bad if they somehow completely gobbled up every last shred of free studios, or 2 of the big 3, but I don't see either happening in our lifetime, not for one holding's company.



Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see

So pay up motherfuckers you belong to "V"

DonFerrari on 26 August 2022
Chazore said:
DonFerrari said:

For me it is much more dangerous if they acquire and don't release good games with consistence.

Well if they release flop after flop, there isn't much they can do to the rest of the industry if they are the ones failing, and Xbox/Sony/Nintendo/other pubs end up rising above them in terms of sales/quality titles. 

Of course it'd be bad if they somehow completely gobbled up every last shred of free studios, or 2 of the big 3, but I don't see either happening in our lifetime, not for one holding's company.

I was thinking on the term that if they have multiples flops several good studios would go under, perhaps even if MS/Sony/Nintendo bought them out at that time there wouldn't be much to salvage.



duduspace11 "Well, since we are estimating costs, Pokemon Red/Blue did cost Nintendo about $50m to make back in 1996"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=8808363

Mr Puggsly: "Hehe, I said good profit. You said big profit. Frankly, not losing money is what I meant by good. Don't get hung up on semantics"

http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=9008994

Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."