Embracer Group has unveiled plans to shake up its gaming division, which includes a rebranding of Middle-Earth and Friends and spinning off its indie label into a standalone group.
For starters, Middle-Earth and Friends is now titled Fellowship Entertainment, which will handle major IPs including The Lord of the Rings, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Metro, Dead Island, Killing Floor, Darksiders, and Tomb Raider among others. The outfit includes a boatload of developers such as 4A Games, Aspyr Media, CrazyLabs, Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Dark Horse, Deco Games, Eidos Montreal, and Flying Wild Hog.
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Coffee Stain & Friends meanwhile is now a separately listed company, with Anton Westbergh, co-founder and Group CEO of Coffee Stain, commented:
We’re really proud of everything we’ve built as part of Embracer, and grateful for the support and trust we’ve received over the years. Now, as we take the step to become a separately listed company, it feels both exciting and, honestly, a little bit scary—but in a good way.
The games industry is more competitive than ever, but also more rewarding if you do things right, and we believe this move gives us the clarity and control to navigate the landscape better on our own terms. We can now focus even more on what we do best—supporting our developers, staying close to our communities, and building an even brighter future for Coffee Stain.
Back in April last year, Embracer Group announce that it was splitting into three separate companies — Asmodee, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends. All three companies were listed separately on Nasdasq Stockholm. At the time, Embracer said that Asmodee will operate as a publisher and distributor of board games and trading card, while Coffee Stain & Friend would focus on PC, console and mobile titles.
The industry powerhouse announced it was laying off 97 developers from Eidos Montreal bak in early 2024, and had also cancelled development of a new Deus Ex game. Fast forward to March of this year, Eidos Montreal announced that it had suffered further layoffs, with 75 people losing their jobs.
[Source – VGC]