Tomb Raider has 88 million lifetime sales, so why did Square Enix sell it off so cheap?

It has been (one other) huge week for gaming information. On an unassuming Monday morning, the trade realized that Sq. Enix agreed to the sale of Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Lara Craft Go – together with the studios that make the video games – to the Embracer Group.

Although Sq. Enix will retain a few of its Western IP – particularly Simply Trigger, Life Is Unusual, and Outriders – it is clear the writer was wanting to eliminate loads of its most notable manufacturers. And it is smart; Sq. Enix has been publicly disparaging of its Western studios in recent times. It nearly felt like a upset mum or dad moaning about its children to the opposite dad and mom on the college gates.

Whether or not it was Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Marvel’s Avengers, or Guardians of the Galaxy, Sq. Enix would (loudly) put out releases calling them ‘gross sales disappointments’ or speaking about how unimpressed it’s with the efficiency of the live-service side of the video games. Even again in 2013, the Tomb Raider reboot bought 3.4 million models in simply 4 weeks – and that was nonetheless a failure within the eyes of Sq. Enix. Eesh.

However, following Embracer Group’s settlement to buy the three huge studios (Eidos Montreal, Sq. Enix Montreal, and Crystal Dynamics) from Sq. Enix, alongside a shedload of IP, the funding firm shared a timeline of the Tomb Raider franchise. Full with some gross sales information we have not seen offered on this manner earlier than.

Per the timeline, Tomb Raider has bought 88 million models because the first recreation launched manner again 1996. A major chunk of that quantity – some 38 million gross sales – is attributed to the Reboot Trilogy alone, which kicked off with Tomb Raider (2013) and went on to spawn each Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

TL;DR? It is a well-liked collection, with loads of potential. So why was Sq. Enix so keen to dump it – and for therefore low cost? Enable pal of VG247 and video games enterprise veteran, Chris Dring, to place it into easy-to-understand phrases.

Sq. Enix, it could seem, is keen to free itself from a set of costly studios – and get a pleasant, fats money injection on the identical time. It has been clear for a while that the Japanese writer is at a little bit of a loss with what to do with these studios, so making Embracer pay a pleasant huge lump sum to amass them is a kind-of win for all sides, proper?

Axios’ Stephen Totilo weighs in on issues, too. Noting that in 2021, Embracer paid greater than double what it paid to Sq. Enix for 50+ IP and three studios… for a cell gaming firm referred to as Easybrain.

Provided that Sq. Enix notes its studios generated roughly $200 million in income final 12 months (however lower than $8 million in working earnings), it is simple to see why the writer needed to dump these studios to Embracer – an organization that is clearly obtained sufficient money knocking round to put money into these firms in a manner Sq. Enix appears reticent to.

The lengthy and wanting it? Sq. Enix did a deal to Embracer for $300 million – which is small compared to megaton offers like Sony’s $3.6 billion takeover of Bungie. Particularly when you think about Embracer can also be selecting up the rights to the Tomb Raider movies (three exist already, and we’ll see a few fourth), Lara’s standing as a cultural icon, and the potential of a Deus Ex film to come back.

In actuality, that is loads of money, however Embracer has actually hit a goldmine right here due to Sq. Enix on the lookout for a quick-fire money injection. And if every little thing goes to plan for the agency, perhaps we’ll even see another legacy recreation collection seem on fashionable consoles, too.