Det var bara för ett par ynka månader sedan som vi kunde rapportera att helsvenska speljätten Embracer Group med investormagnaten Lars Wingefors i spetsen dessvärre mist en till synes klar superdeal med en icke omnämnd partner, varpå flera spekulerade i om det kunde tänkas handla om Sony eller Microsoft. Nu vet vi att så inte var fallet. Dealen, som var värd 20 miljarder kronor, som gick i kras var tydligen med Savvy Games Group som backas upp rent ekonomiskt av Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) som i sin tur leds av den hårt kritiserade Mohammed bin Salman. Detta har nu lett till att Embracer börjat stänga ned spelstudios och de har i omgångar gjort sig med personal, vilket vi här på Gamereactor rapporterat om.
Embracer mottog tio miljarder kronor från Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund under 2022 och hoppas kunna bygga en ny deal med araberna som vid flertalet tillfällen sagt att man avser att bygga upp Saudi till en av världens viktigaste gaming-hubbar. PIF:s VD Brian Ward är en riktig branschveteran som bland annat jobbat för EA och Activision och vi hoppas få veta mer detaljer kring denna uteblivna deal framöver.
Axios skriver följande:
Why it matters: The fallout of the failed deal sent shares of The Embracer Group — Savvy's would-be partner, and one of the most voracious acquirers of video games studios in the last several years — plummeting, and forced it into cost-cutting mode.
More broadly, the revelation may raise questions about how Saudi Arabia will proceed with its controversial ambitions to invest $38 billion in the video game industry.
Driving the news: Axios learned of Savvy's involvement from four sources familiar with the deal who were not authorized to speak about it publicly, and after reviewing documentation related to the planned partnership.
An Embracer spokesperson declined to comment for this story. A Savvy rep did not reply by press time.
Catch up quick: The $2 billion deal would have involved Savvy investing in the development and publishing of games from Embracer, helping establish the Saudi company as a major gaming label.
Embracer had been promising investors news of a lucrative "transformative partnership ... with several industry partners" since November 2022.
But in a May 24, 2023 note, Embracer management announced the collapse of one of those massive partnerships, while carefully avoiding naming the partner.
In the May note, Embracer said that the parties had reached a verbal commitment in October 2022 that would have resulted in more than $2 billion "in contracted development revenue over a period of six years."
"All documentation was finalized and ready to go as of yesterday," the company said. "We asked for the execution of the agreement before our Q4 announcement. However late last night we received a negative outcome from the counterparty."