Back in May this year, Embracer Group acquired several studios from Square Enix, along with over 50 IPs, several of which would\u2019ve been considered some of the very best out there 20 or so years ago. For $300 million (pocket change in today\u2019s industry), the Swedish holding company (formerly known as THQ Nordic) bought Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal, along with key IPs like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Thief.<\/p>\n

Now, looking at that line-up, it would be natural to assume that Embracer is really <\/em>interested in Tomb Raider and Deus Ex rather than Thief. The former two games have a much stronger track record over the last decade. With three Tomb Raider and two Deus Ex games since 2011, all releasing with very good to excellent reviews, there\u2019s a strong case to be made that both series\u2019 declines can be attributed to their mismanagement by Square Enix and the publisher\u2019s general disinterest in the works of Eidos-Montreal, rather than the pulling power of the IPs themselves.<\/p>\n

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This has seemingly been confirmed by Eidos-Montreal founder Stephane D\u2019Astous, who in a recent interview had some strong things to say about Square Enix. D\u2019Astous described Square Enix\u2019s management of western studios as \u201ca train wreck in slow motion,\u201d and also that he was \u201closing hope that Square Enix would bring great things to Eidos.\u201d The success of the Hitman series since it parted ways with Square Enix also supports the idea that the Japanese publisher \u2013 best known for JRPGs like Final Fantasy, Nier, and Chrono Trigger \u2013 just didn\u2019t quite know what to do with these distinctly western flavours of game.<\/p>\n
While the commercial potential of Deus Ex and most certainly Tomb Raider is surely apparent to Embracer, it may be a little bit less so with Thief. The series hasn\u2019t had an unequivocal hit since Thief 2: The Metal Age in 2000. The 2014 version sold well, but it was regarded by fans and critics alike as the worst game in the series; it was seen as a linear and overly scripted deviation from the masterful level design and freedom of approach that made the earlier games so seminal. Maybe not a terrible game in general, but hardly a Thief game (which made sense given that many of the original Thief developers went off to work at Arkane and make Dishonored in 2012 \u2013 much more of a spiritual successor to Thief than the 2014 Thief was).<\/p>\n
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