The Tomb Raider and Deus Ex game franchises finally return to their original owners
Several months ago, Japanese game company Square Enix sold its Western gaming studios to the Embracer Group for $300 million. The sale included Crystal Dynamics, known for the recent Tomb Raider games, as well as Edios Montreal, which is known for the recent cyberpunk-ish Deus Ex games. And now they are officially in control of those games and IP (intellectual property), according to VGC.
Intellectual property law can be very messy and it can mean that although a company was involved in the creation of a game they can somehow not be able to work on the game after being sold. When news surfaced that Square Enix was shedding its Western gaming studios, it did not necessarily mean that the games that were created by those studios would be included in the sale. I mean, it seemed obvious that it would be transferred looking at the reasons why Square Enix had said they were selling, but sometimes companies lie about their intentions, and the Japanese are notorious for finding ways of saying things that require one to read between the lines. But the fate of these game franchises would’ve not looked good if Square Enix had decided to keep them.
Thankfully, they didn’t.
As a fan of the recent Deus Ex games, and also someone who enjoyed the Tomb Raider games (at least the ones I played), I’m quite relieved to know that the fate of these games (and others) are officially in the hands of people who would take care of them.
Although Square Enix has a storied history, the ship has been rocky lately. As a rarity, even the head of the Final Fantasy franchise – a Japanese – has publicly stated that the franchise was struggling. We assume that he did not hazard to go too far more in his statement since he, without a doubt, had more knowledge on the workings of the Final Fantasy franchise currently in Square Enix so could be considered qualified to talk on the state of Final Fantasy, but possibly it was also a case of read in-between the lines to say what he really wanted to say without actually saying it. But that is speculation on my part, so let’s stick with the actual quote.
“In terms of whether Final Fantasy is successfully adapting to industry trends, I believe the series is currently struggling.”
Naoki Yoshida
But also remember that actions speak louder than words. Something like getting rid of Western gaming studios for a song and dance, then making another studio to target Western games.
