Embracer Group goes on an acquisition spree, picking up 12 game studios and a PR firm

Embracer Group (formerly THQ Nordic) has announced today that they have acquired a whole host of gaming companies – A total of 12 studios, alongside a PR firm.

Embracer’s new studios are as follows: Thinking Ape Entertainment (Canada), Nimble Giant Entertainment (Argentina), Snapshot Games (Bulgaria), Mad Head Games (Serbia), Zen Studios (Hungary), 34BigThing (Italy), IUGO Mobile Entertainment (Canada), Purple Lamp Studios (Australia), Quantic Lab (Romania), Coffee Stain North (Sweden) and the UK-based Silent Games.

Koch Media, a subsidiary of Embracer Group, has also acquired the Polish studio Flying Wild Hog, responsible for the Shadow Warrior franchise.

As if all these studios weren’t enough, Embracer has also acquired the New York-based PR and influencer relations agency Sandbox Strategies. Altogether, these 13 acquisitions add least 1,273 new to Embracer’s ranks, bringing their total employees up to over 5,000.

It’s quite the spree. Among the many acquisitions, a few stand out – such as Snapshot Games, the Bulgaria-based studio behind Phoenix Point, co-founded by Julian Gollop – creator of the X-COM Franchise. Snapshot Games will form a part of Embracer’s wholly owned subsidiary Saber Interactive. Snapshot will operate as an independent studio under Saber.

“We are thrilled that Snapshot is joining forces with the world class team at Saber. Julian and I look forward to working with Andrey, Matt and Lars to develop and expand the Phoenix Point universe, and to bring new IP to a global audience” says David Kaye, co-founder and president of Snapshot Games.

Another standout is Silent Games, a Newcastle-based studio founded in 2018 by Sally Blake and Jospeh Rogers. Embracer has acquired Silent Games via its subsidiary, Amplifier Game Invest, and Silent Games is Amplifier’s first investments in the UK. Over the coming years, Silent Games hopes to grow from its current employee count of 4 to a 30 person-strong team.

“We are incredibly excited for the opportunity to work with Amplifier and the Embracer group building our brand new IP for PC and Console from the ground up,” says Sally Blake, CEO and co-founder of Silent Games. “Our long-term partnership will allow for significant growth in Silent Games, and enable us to create a studio that is focused on securing and developing talent in the region for many years to come.”