Square Enix to Sell Western Studios; Files Several Trademarks

Posted on Tuesday 3rd May 2022 at 21:20 by AltheaValara

Square Enix is due to sell studios Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal to Embracer Group for an estimated $300 million USD. The deal still needs regulatory approval, but once given, should be finalized sometime between July and September of this year.

This sale will mean Square Enix will no longer own the properties of Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain, along with a back-catalogue of more than 50 games. Crystal Dynamics is already working on a new Tomb Raider game.

Square Enix has said that this deal was made so they could invest in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.

In unrelated news, Square Enix registered several new trademarks recently. These trademarks include Fear Effect and Relic Strike. The former was a game released by Eidos in 2000 for the original PlayStation, so there is speculation the series is about to be revived.

Other recent trademarks filed include Valkyrie Profile and Lenneth, which might indicate those games are to make their way to PS Plus Premium subscription.

Source: The Verge, PCMag, MP1ST

Posted in: Square-Enix News, Gaming Industry News

Written by	AltheaValara
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Comments

Glenn Magus Harvey	Comment 1: 2022-05-12 01:11
	Well, this is interesting. I noticed that their western IPs like Deus Ex and Thief etc. got sold on GOG but their Japanese IPs didn't, and I was hoping that one day they'd also become available on a DRM-free platform. This move really reveals the extent of the separation between them, and makes me less hopeful that one day Final Fantasy games will be available DRM-free on PC.
NinjaViet86	Comment 2: 2022-05-24 13:23
	I'm gonna try and have a positive outlook on this. Hoping they can really focus a lot on their main IPs like Final Fantasy.
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