While you might half-heartedly reorganize your game or music collection once in a while, that’s nothing compared to what the Embracer Group does on a random day of the week: After its last few years of chaos, Embracer is now reorganizing hundreds more studios in a move that spins off Coffee Stain and its whole entourage to become a separate company as well as completely rebranding Embracer itself.
In its press release, Embracer said that it’s creating these two groups by the end of 2024. Coffee Stain Group will be made up of 250 studios and publishers that handle a massive list of titles, including a few we cover here on MOP like Valheim and Satisfactory. Embracer itself will rebrand as Fellowship Entertainment and will be handling all of the rest of the studios, including ones that govern Lord of the Rings and Hobbit-related titles (which means the LOTR MMO partnership with Amazon, not the LOTRO MMO run through Daybreak/EG7).
“The games industry is more competitive than ever, but also more rewarding if you do things right, and we believe this move gives us the clarity and control to navigate the landscape better on our own terms,” said Coffee Stain Group CEO Anton Westbergh. “We can now focus even more on what we do best—supporting our developers, staying close to our communities, and building an even brighter future for Coffee Stain.”
• Embracer Group rebrands as Fellowship Entertainment, spins off Coffee Stain and hundreds of studios • Godfall and Duelyst developer Counterplay Games shutters according to Jackalyptic Games employees • MMO Business Roundup: Embracer Q2 2024, Steam toxicity, and GOG’s game preservation program • Embracer-owned Cryptic Studios will suffer devastating layoffs at the end of October • Embracer Q1 2024: Sales and company debt lower while the LOTR MMO gets a mention • Embracer Group talks up aspirations for AI tool integration with a ‘human-centric approach’ • Embracer Group announces plans to split itself into ‘three standalone publicly listed entities’ • Embracer confirms layoffs of nearly 1400 people were part of efforts to ‘always maximize shareholder value’ • Rumor: Embracer is trying to sell Gearbox – and therefore Cryptic and its MMORPGs • Embracer Group is killing off Flying Wild Hog’s Jagex-pubbed Space Punks • Veteran games studio Volition is shuttered as part of Embracer’s restructuring • Embracer Q1 FY 23/24: Sales and debts improve, Cryptic MMOs bolster back catalogue • Embracer Group’s botched $2B deal was with Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group • Embracer (Gearbox) announces major restructure with layoffs and canceled games • Amazon has revived its Lord of the Rings MMORPG, now collaborating with Embracer • Embracer’s revenues soar as LOTR gets new games and Neverwinter, Star Trek Online bolster back catalogue • Embracer Q3 2022: Mobile game ads drive revenue with Cryptic MMOs contributing • Lord of the Rings Online’s next two zones leak as Embracer buys up rights to the LOTR franchise • MMO Business Roundup: Embracer, Perfect World, ESO Chinese localization, and Runeterra cheaters • Saudi Arabia buys a $1B chunk of Gearbox’s Embracer Group to extend games reach to the MENA region • Embracer Group is rebranding Perfect World Entertainment as Gearbox Publishing • Everything we learned about PWE’s and Cryptic’s MMOs thanks to the Embracer buyout • PWE and Cryptic have been bought out by Gearbox’s Embracer Group Source: Press Release
