Savvy Games Walked Away From $2 Billion Investment In Embracer Group

This May, it was reported that Embracer Group, a major video game publisher behind franchises such as Tomb Raider, Saint’s Row, and more was at one point in talks for a 2 billion dollar deal that eventually fell apart. At the time, little details were revealed of the proposed deal, only that it was a “transformative partnership”. We now know that it was Savvy Games Group who walked from the deal, according to Axios. 

Because of the failure of the deal, Embracer had to restructure its operations, shutting down many of its over 130 internal studios and canceling projects after years of aggressive acquisitions. No specific reason is given as to why Savvy walked away from the deal, which would see Savvy fund and publish games from Embracer Group, which itself is no small company.

Savvy Games Group is a Saudi Arabian video game company owned by the country’s Public Investment Fund, which has made major investments in nearly all industries, including video games. The PIF plans to invest over 38 billion dollars into gaming, part of which would have been the deal with Embracer in a bid to turn the Kingdom into a major gaming hub. 

Recently, the PIF has become a massive shareholder in some of the biggest gaming companies in the world. It is currently the biggest shareholder in companies like Nintendo and is a major shareholder of Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive. The PIF had also invested in Embracer Group in the past, totaling up to one billion dollars. 

If not Savvy Games, then what company has the potential to make a deal with Embracer Group? In April, we had singled out the Saudi PIF as a potential buyer, which we now know is no longer involved in talks with Embracer, but we think Amazon Games may also be a perfect suitor for the publisher due to brand synergies and pre-existing IP deals.