Embracer Group, Lara Croft's new corporate overlord, sees "great potential" in Tomb Raider, including sequels, remakes, remasters, and even "transmedia projects."
Earlier this month, Embracer acquired Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics and all corresponding IP from Square Enix in a deal worth a massive $300 million. This week, the company published its Q4 and full year financial report, in which CEO Lars Wingefors said he sees "great potential, not only in sequels, but also in remakes, remasters, spinoffs as well as transmedia projects" for Tomb Raider.
That comment relates not only to Tomb Raider, a franchise which Embracer now owns in its entirety, but also Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain, according to Wingefors. So while the Embracer CEO might be seeing big things ahead for the Tomb Raider series, he's also very clearly got big plans in the works for other game series that come with the acquisition of Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and Square Enix Montreal.
It's not unreasonable, therefore, to suggest we could be in for remakes, remasters, and sequels for Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and even Legacy of Kain. Wingefors notes in the Q4 earnings report that the acquisition announcement received an "overwhelming and positive response," so it's likely that Embracer would seek to capitalize on the wave of good press by putting resources into the aforementioned franchises.
Right now however, there's only one new game from the four series Wingefors highlights in active development. Crystal Dynamics announced earlier this year that a brand new Tomb Raider game was in development, utilizing the Unreal Engine 5 for new-gen platforms. Aside from this new game, there's been no official word on whether we'll see any new releases from the Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain sagas. The deal between Square Enix and Embracer explicitly included the new Tomb Raider game, so we know it's continuing life under a new parent company.
Head over to our new games 2022 guide for a full look over all the titles launching this year and beyond.
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