Marvel Games Lost Square Enix A Scary Amount Of Money, Says Analyst

Yesterday (3 May) it was announced that The Embracer Group - formerly THQ Nordic - plans to purchase three studios from Square Enix for $300 million.

The studios include Square Enix Montréal which created the Go series, Eidos-Montréal which develops the Deux Ex franchise, and the most well-known of the three, Crystal Dynamics, which has developed almost 40 titles including the Tomb Raider games. Eidos-Montréal most recently released a video game version of Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, straight off the back of developing Marvel’s Avengers, in a collaborative effort with Crystal Dynamics. 

Check out our interview with Chris Judge who plays the voice of Black Panther in Marvel's Avengers in the video below.

It seemed unlikely to many that Square Enix would sell off a large studio such as Crystal Dynamics, which has a number of large IPs such as Gex and Legacy Of Kain alongside the aforementioned Ms. Croft in its library. However, it appears that the studio was losing money overall for the publisher. 

As reported by Metro, senior financial analyst David Gibson believes that the release of the two Marvel games ended up losing Square Enix around $200 million. Despite this huge loss, Square Enix is still a solvent company, meaning it still turns a profit. The analyst was confused by the decision to sell off the studios which have a history of developing profitable games despite recent missteps.

The Embracer group apparently intends to take over the publishing rights of both Marvel games following the purchase but will need the approval of Marvel’s parent company, Disney, in order to do so. As Marvel’s Avengers is a live-service game, and one which isn’t turning a profit, it is likely that Embracer would shut down development following the acquisition.

In a press release Square Enix claims that it was selling the studios in order to fund development in future technologies. It went on to clarify “The transaction enables the launch of new businesses by moving forward with investments in fields including blockchain, AI, and the cloud.”