Embracer Group acquired the IP rights to Tomb Raider and Deus Ex through its subsidiaries Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal from the previous owner Square Enix. The two studios gained control of said games and more.
Related: Embracer Group acquires The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit IP rights
The Swedish company has been acquiring many studios and IPs recently. The purchase of Square Enix-owned studios Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Montréal, and Eidos Montréal was announced in May 2022. The acquisition process is officially completed.
Through this deal, Tomb Raider goes back to Crystal Dynamics. The studio made several games for the franchise between 2004 and 2016. Besides Lara Croft, the company also gained control over the Legacy of Kain series’ future.
Crystal Dynamics shared a short statement:
“We are excited to inform you that Crystal Dynamics has taken control of several game franchises—including Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain—from the games’ previous owner, Square Enix Limited.
As a result of this change, Crystal Dynamics (or its affiliate) is now the owner of these games and the controller of the gameplay and personal data related to them.”
Eidos Montreal also shared a statement about the changes:
“As we’ve left Square Enix Ltd and joined the Embracer Group, we are starting an exciting new chapter in Eidos-Montréal’s history. While it’s not quite as exciting, it also means we have to let you know that we’ve updated our Terms of Service and Privacy Notice!
To put things simply, the big change is that Eidos-Montréal (or its affiliates) is now the owner of the games it developed, like the Deus Ex and Thief games, and the controller of the data obtained from the various gameplay metrics tracked in its titles.”
Separate statements show these series are not directly owned by the Embracer Group. It means if another company buys the studio in the future, they will take the franchises with themselves.
In April, Crystal Dynamics announced that they are working on a new Tomb Raider game, but there is no clear information about this game yet. The only clear thing is that the studio is developing the game using Unreal Engine 5.
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