Embracer Group Acquires Limited Run Games, Lord Of The Rings IP & More

There’s something a bit fishy about this company.
Having 120 studios and over 850 franchises is not normal.

@Greatluigi ya I was thinking something along those lines.

This cannot be a good thing for gamers though right??? What I mean is having money to buy out small companies. I know when Microsoft bought out Rare LTD, it was bad for Rare because they’re nothing like the company they used to be.
It is a bad example I suppose, but I think that’s what’s happening here.

@Greatluigi That's what happens when regulators don't regulate.

@Greatluigi They make fat themselves to be an attractive take-over for these Googles, Amazons, Tencents etc. in this world which want to enter the western video games market with an exclamation mark.

@MarcusIsCool I am pretty sure that EVERY owner of this smaller companies wanted to sell to Embracer, they weren’t force to do this.

@Max_the_German oh I would think so.

But I was just thinking for the benefit of the gamer. It’s just very very dubious about what’s going on. I would hope it’s for the best however. Even though I know that’s unlikely to be the case.

I am fairly certain that it should be Toaplan

I remember devolver making a joke exactly about this. Smaller groups all getting gobbled up by larger ones until we're left with a few mega groups that own everything. I just feel like this can't be good for the industry or consumers.

When you mix corporatism with the already awful practices of LRG, this is only going to lead to worse outcomes. Plus the Lord of the Rings news and other announcements really don't sound positive at all... 😰

Well, LRG, it's been a good run.

You might even say that it's been... a limited run! 🥁

I love mega corporations!!!! Yaaaaaaay

I don't really understand what's going on here, but this sentence caught my attention:

"Bitwave will also help release "highly regarded shoot 'em up games" from Toaplan, and the NES/Famicom platformer Gimmick! on console."

...Really? has there been an announcement regarding Gimmick? Does this have anything to do with the upcoming "Sunsoft announcement" that was supposed to be happening? I'm at a bit of a loss here.

So I'm guessing this Embracer Group is the landfill where dead franchises/companies would end up at, kinda sad. Hopefully EA makes it to their list someday.

I have no issues at all with Swedes buying up whatever they want. Their society is not harmful to the hobby. Some other places, though…

@EarthboundBenjy there is a Sunsoft presentation today so there might be mention of Gimmick then.

I havent played any game from them, how are they so succesful? Even EA seems more credible from them to make a decent LOTR game. Prob they will outsource it to some chinese ocmpany, some of these got talent. See you in 10 years if we're all still alive and well till then

If Limited Run has been taken over by a Swedish Company, hopefully they will get rid of the extortionate delivery charges on their physicals.
Yeah right, they will squeeze as much money as they can out of it and then sell it off to someone else.

Bummed about Limited Run and Tatsujin really. I was still hoping for more usage of all those Toaplan titles, because the rights have shifted around in the past few years. But I can’t say this acquisition fills me with confidence.

It's buying up a lot of stuff - is it going to asset-strip some to fund others? Something doesn't seem right

Honestly, they should buy Ubisoft. And keep them out of Tencent's hands.

And I do hope they bring easier Limited Run Games shipping to the EU.

Oooh, another animated LOTR movie? Here's hoping it will be directed by Ralph Bakshi. As it is, he still needs to finish his sequel for his animated LOTR movie from 1978. The last feature-length film he worked on was Cool World from 1992.

But then again, several people who worked on the first movie have since passed away, such as the composer, Leonard Rosenman, and the actor who played Aragorn, John Hurt, so the movie wouldn't be the same without them.

Embracer isn't really a company in the traditional terms. They're not like Microsoft or Sony or EA... they don't publish games or make games... they are a holding company. So basically, all these businesses continue to operate like they always do, but they are now just part of a wider network of companies.

@Dringo Yeah. Their developers continues as they always did and is not controlled by Embracer.
Embracer or EA is the second largest third party after Activision.

@Silly_G nice

If Microsoft and Embracer don't buy companies, Tencent in China will do.
Who wants China to dominate the gaming market?

"Limited Run Games" have been exposed as a SCAM company.

I wonder if that will change..

This raises so many questions about the future of limited run. Will Embracer release second runs? Will they open a European decision? LRG were in a slow decline already when it comes to the quantity over quality they have released this past year.

Feels a bit like the party is over from my perspective. What made their releases appealing is all but lost now.

Look on the brightside, atleast all of their games will remain multi platform

If someone would actually make use of it, then the LotR brand could be a very big thing. Shadow of Mordor sorta proves this.
And yes, Embracer swallowing everything like a black hole is creepy af

They have a policy of letting the companys they buy stay as independent as possible. But I don’t think they are doing very well at using their franchises. They mostly rerelease old games but don’t use them for much new content.
I used to be a shareholder. But I sold many years ago before they started calling themselves Embracer.

I'm only aware of Tripwire and Limited Run Games. not sure about the rest of companies that they acquired.
I do have to wonder how Embracer Group is acquiring so many companies, as others point out.

Can all the massive multimedia conglomerates please stop conglomerating already? It's okay. You don't have to own literally everything and make all the money. Everyone will be happier if you just make enough to pay your employees a reasonable wage and aspire to make whatever products/services you already offer slightly higher quality than they were last year, and maybe occasionally come up with something new. You'll be just fine without subsuming every other business and property remotely related to you.

I’m trying to think of an example where huge consolidations like this have actually benefitted anyone other than a few sellers and shareholders.
More likely the new owners leech all the profits and vitality they can from their acquisitions, till they sell what’s left, in turn.

I have never before seen anyone swallow up studios at the rate Embracer Group does these years.

I hope they hire the necessary amount of coordinators and "big picture" thinkers to make the most of it.

...and the gaming landscape got poorer, once again. Fewer heads making decisions means less options, less diversity, less freedom. The mega-corp dystopia looms closer every day

@AstroTheGamosian agreed!

@Kochambra seems to be getting more and more like that each year

@Ventilator agreed. They already own far too much as it is.

@Ventilator I always thought Tencent would have shares of Embracer but googling it seems like they're pretty much their own thing and steered from .. Sweden? For an old european patriot like me thats actually very interesting indeed. Its not happening too often that european comanies play with the big fish even if Embracer might still be far away from juggernauts like MS.
Still, one entity swallowing studios is always a sorta weird thing to observe but maybe thats how it has to be these days

I'm confused.

Doesn't WB own the film and video game rights to Middle Earth? And thats why only they were making Middle Earth games?

The disturbing trend of consolidation in gaming.

Pffft, regulation? Monopolies? What are those?

@Vix In the US anti-trust regulation has been virtually non-existent for 3 decades minimum. And they have no idea what to do with gaming. Most of the old men in regulatory suits still think of it as a kid's pasttime - not the insidious data collection agent it actually is.

Same with the below-average dolts who give everything to these agent. Gamers and the general populace are bottom of the barrel when it comes to figuring anything out.

I'm a little confused as to how this company isn't being considered a monopoly yet.

Cool; hopefully Limited Run Games will actually ship my orders now. Almost 8 months since I started ordering from them and I’ve received literally NOTHING. Shady af

Let's hope they shut down the LotR Amazon series and some of these crap game projects and start to really deliver. Last good LotR game I played was Shadows of Mordor from WB.

@valcoholic Embracer / THQ Nordic is Swedish.
Lots of the developers they bought is Swedish too.
Embracer/THQ is the only giant publisher in whole Europe.

People have for years been positive with Embracer purchases, because they revive so many franchises and also made a few proper remakes. Embracer is the only publisher on the planet i think who always gets "free pass".

Microsoft is worth around 65 times as much as Embracer.
Embracer is only worth 50% of Activision. In fact Embracer worth about same as Electronic Arts.

EA or Embracer is the second largest third party, after Activision
In fact EA is worth more than UBI, Bethesda, 2K Games, Square Enix and even more combined.

Activision is worth nearly the same as Nintendo.
Whole Sony including movies and electronics is only worth 2.7 times as much as Activision.

I forgot to check Tencent...They are the 11th largest company on the planet. They are worth more than Nintendo, Sony and Activision combined.

@Old-Red People should never buy anything from "Limited Run Games".
They have been exposed. There is a few videos about it on Youtube.

I don't know if Embracer will do anything about it.

@Ventilator Hey thank you so much for the intel! Absolutely great numbers, didn't know most of it!

Pretty ironic that gearbox which is owned by embracer is releasing that new tales from the borderlands which in the synopsis mentions corporate greed then again could say that about any other big publisher lol

@Ventilator I've been buying a lot of LRG releases since the first switch release. I have always received my orders eventually.

I don't know where this scam image or being exposed comes from, but it seems a bit misjudged. It think the honest truth is they got too big for the small team to handle, so cracks started to show as they became overstretched.

My main issue is the quality of games dropped significantly as they tried to release way too many every month. If they kept it to two games a month and allowed you to combine a few months of orders together, I probably would have gone for a complete collection, but they got too greedy unfortunately and spoilt it.

@valcoholic No problem. The most crazy is how much Activision is worth vs everyone else. 10-11 times as much as UBI for example.

I don't know if Tencent fully counts as they are also in to medical, music, cinemas, comics and other things.

@Old-Red There is various reasons, and also how they rip off people.

One of the videos. "The Truth About Limited Run Games"

Example.
They sold a game with no DLC for 60$
Then the original publisher also makes a physical, selling it including all DLC for 30$.

Then they sell overpriced Collections where the stuff looks like someone made it at home in a hurry etc.
They also sell 1$ games for 40$.

This sounds really weird. I haven't heard about this anywhere else. What will happen to the Gollum game if this company that no one has ever heard of have bought the rights to the lotr books?

Maybe Embracer Group is trying to protect our interest from Tencent and Musk.

Besides looking how Limited Run Games has done business this could be a good thing for us! 😂

@Ventilator is LRG a scan company? I thought they produced limited copies of games not commercially published alongside commercial games. Their brand is "limited run" but not all they products are

@Abes3 Their pricing is all over the place.

They sold a game with no DLC for 60$.
Then the original publisher also makes a physical, selling it including all DLC for 30$.

Then they sell overpriced Collections where the stuff looks like someone made it at home.
They also sell 1$ games for 40$.

@Old-Red they were greedy from the start. Misled customers. Lied. Got caught lying. Continued to lie. Had a cult like following that defend them to the hilt.

I bought the first couple of years of their switch out put. Maybe 3 years. Got fed up with their arrogance, terrible customer service and dubious choice of how to sell and market certain games. After I stopped buying it got worse and worse to the point of a farce.

Games like doom and Star Wars should never be released by a company like that and the fact they then got a commercial release and better value proved it.

Whilst it was mostly legal. It was dubious and very very close to the definition of a scam in my book.

So LRG of NC USA is bought out now? Wait can't be....???

@Ventilator what your saying isn't wrong.
But it can be justified.

They don't have the power to get retail games cheaper than others so yeah you'll pay more.

They do sell cheap eShop games for $35 but people like me are happy to pay the premium for a physical copy just because Doom 64 came in a N64 style packaging.

Additionally they do also sell limited run copies of games like Scott Pilgrim, Night Trap, Celeste. All games under $10 on the eShop but there is a market for physical versions.

It's a niche online store for a niche market. And sure while I'm buying stuff I may as well buy ninja turtles too, it's $10 more than everywhere else but I'm here anyway.

Your points are valid, I'm just saying they're don't create games, they work on deals with the owners of the titles to produce a product. They don't necessarily have an input with DLC inclusion unless the developers agree to it.
LRG don't/Legally can't release a game without permission, there needs to be economic, commercial and contractual factors for them to publish then product and then get permission from the console manufacturer to get it to run on the system.
-All of this is a cost or time (which is billable because no one is working for free)

At the end of the day they're also a company who needs to make money to survive, a big part of their revenue is the 'junk' that comes with the game that give it that premium price.

I'd just say if you don't like them, don't buy from them. But people like me who like the junk and don't mind paying extra to get it early, fancy box, collectable cards, cool box art, vinyl soundtracks that I'll never actually play... that's who they're marketing towards.

@Abes3 Sorry for late reply. Takes ages to re-paint my house.

You are saying nothing wrong either. I guess we both summed them up.