News

More acquisitions made by Embracer with Demiurge Studios, Fractured Byte and SmartPhone Labs

The trio was purchased through Embracer subsidiary Saber Interactive

Date Type Companies involved Size
August 18th, 2021 acquisition Demiurge Studios
Embracer Group
Fractured Byte
SmartPhone Labs
Not disclosed
More acquisitions made by Embracer with Demiurge Studios, Fractured Byte and SmartPhone Labs

The Embracer Group has made three more acquisitions with Demiurge Studios, Fractured Byte and SmartPhone Labs.

Terms of all three deals were not disclosed, however, all companies can receive an upfront payment with a further bonus payout if certain performance metrics are met between the next one to six years. The trio was purchased through Embracer subsidiary Saber Interactive.

Boston-based Demiurge Studios will see 100 per cent of its shares go to Embracer, with the acquisition due to be complete in August. Founded in 2002, the free-to-play developer worked on various mobile titles, including: Crazy Taxi Gazillionaire, Sega Heroes, Puzzle and Glory and Marvel Puzzle Quest.

CEO Kurt Reiner will continue to lead the company going forward, while revenue for 2021 is expected to land around $15 million. 68 people are said to be employed by Demiurge.

"Our search for a partner that would give us the freedom and trust to grow our business has led us to this day. Demiurge fits perfectly into the Saber/Embracer ecosystem and we have plans for immediate and rapid growth as part of the company", said Reiner.

Porting specialist

Estonian porting specialist Fractured Byte was next picked up. The deal is expected to close by the end of September.

After being set up in 2018, the studio has worked on Borderlands: The Legendary Collection and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 for Nintendo Switch. It has 50 developers based across different parts of Ukraine and headquarters established in Tallinn.

"Fractured Byte is an impressive studio that has done fantastic work on world-class IPs in its relative short history. We're excited to bring them into the fold to collaborate closely together moving forward," commented Saber Interactive COO and co-founder Andrey Iones.

Software testing

The final acquisition was for Russian-based SmartPhone Labs, an independent software testing and games developer across mobile, PC, console and VR. The transaction was completed on August 11th, 2021.

Established in 2002, the studio is based in Veliky Novgorod, hosts over 100 employees and is continues to be led by its co-founder and CEO Artem Kharitonov.

"We are thrilled that SPL is joining forces with the world-class team at Saber. Saber has been our partner for a long time and we really share their values. I look forward to continue working with the team at Saber on new exciting projects in the future", Kharitonov said.

These acquisitions follow in the wake of the Embracer Group's purchase of eight new companies just last week, including mobile developer CrazyLabs.


Deputy Editor

Matthew Forde is the deputy editor at PocketGamer.biz and also a member of the Pocket Gamer Podcast. You can find him on Twitter @MattForde64 talking about stats, data and everything pop culture related - particularly superheroes.