Embracer Group (EMBRACB:SS), the holding company formerly known as THQ Nordic, announced today the acquisition of Malmö-based Tarsier Studios. Gamers know them for their work on the LittleBigPlanet series, Tearaway Unfolded, and most recently for their highly successful platform horror adventure game Little Nightmares. About a month ago they also released The Stretchers, an action-puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch.
Embracer Group will spend €8.4 million in cash and a little over €1 million in newly issued B-shares, made available to five of the sellers at Tarsier. Additionally, some of these individuals are also entitled to a ten-year earnout payment which is subject to specific financial metrics. Should they meet those, they'll be entitled to up to €4.2 million.
Lars Wingefors, co-founder and group CEO at Embracer Group AB, stated:
We at Embracer are impressed with the position and the team that Tarsier has built up during 15 years, which is evident looking at the fantastic reviews that several of the studio’s famous productions have received, and with the future ambitions of the Studio. Together with Tarsier, we want to invest in developing new projects, in the same manner they have done successfully in the past. We look forward to, together with management and all of Tarsier’s employees, embrace the quality and creativity the Studio has, and take the Studio to the next level.
Andreas Johnsson, Studio Head at Tarsier Studios, added:
It feels exciting to, after a 15-year long journey with Tarsier, partner up with Embracer to continue develop the potential that our Studio has. We look forward to the opportunity to continue making exceptionally great games together with Embracer Group.
Notably, the deal won't impact the release of Little Nightmares II, currently under development for a 2020 release on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. That game will still be published by Bandai Namco, which owns the IP.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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