Tomb Raider publisher Square Enix to sell iconic video game franchise

The iconic Tomb Raider movie activity franchise is becoming marketed by its Japanese publisher Square Enix as component of a $300 million deal.

Sq. Enix said Monday it will offload three of its activity enhancement studios — Eidos Interactive, Crystal Dynamics and Sq. Enix Montreal — to Swedish company Embracer Team.

Embracer will also acquire the intellectual residence for Tomb Raider and 3 other video game sequence, like Deux Ex, Thief and Legacy of Kain.

Square Enix mentioned it is advertising the belongings to minimize down on expenditures amid a challenging worldwide enterprise environment, even though also investing in new systems like the blockchain.

The offer “enables the launch of new firms by transferring forward with investments in fields together with blockchain, AI, and the cloud,” Sq. Enix said in a statement saying the news.

The firm’s dedication to ramp up paying in blockchain — the know-how at the rear of lots of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens — led to some backlash on social media. One user said the go was “like advertising your property for magic beans.”

The gamer group has ordinarily been skeptical about NFTs — electronic belongings created to stand for possession of just one-of-a-form collectible goods.

Though proponents of the technologies say it could unlock new types of gaming encounters, several avid gamers are not convinced, viewing NFTs as an environmentally hazardous funds get.

Tomb Raider is one particular of the most well-recognized online video game franchises of all time. The game titles see players navigate British archaeologist Lara Croft by a collection of ancient tombs and hazardous ruins. It has bought around 88 million copies to date.

Tomb Raider’s heroine promptly grew to become a cultural icon, inspiring various movies and products, though also provoking a discussion about the oversexualization of female characters in the gaming marketplace.

Sq. Enix, which is most effective identified for its popular Closing Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Kingdom Hearts games, acquired ownership of the Tomb Raider collection soon after shopping for Eidos Interactive in 2009.

It is now established to become the property of Sweden’s Embracer, with the firm anticipating the deal will be authorized and finalized by the stop of September.

Embracer is not a home identify in gaming. Originally established up as a comic e book and online games retailer, the business has become one particular of Europe’s largest gaming groups after snapping up a slew of significant studios including Gearbox, developer of the Borderlands shooter franchise, and Koch Media.

Gaming analysts stated the deal rate for Square Enix’s Western property was incredibly low, but that the business experienced extended been trying to get a customer.

“Sq. Enix has been searching for to offload this portion of its business enterprise to restructure and concentrate its investments,” Piers Harding-Rolls, head of video games investigation at Ampere Investigation, told CNBC.

“It has struggled to get dependable business good results out of individuals studios, and it would like to make a leaner organization with a much more compelling advancement and profit tale for its shareholders.”

Sq. Enix mentioned it will continue to publish titles from other global franchises, together with Just Induce, Outriders and Lifetime is Weird.