In the world of tabletop gaming, Asmodee Publishing is one of the most influential in the world. The number of developers under their employ are staggering and their overall influence is palpable. They they have partnered with a film studio to start making movie adaptations of their board games as well as raised money to fight breast cancer after all. But now, Asmodee Publishing will be joining yet another major corporation: Embracer Group.
For those not aware, Embracer Group is the parent company behind multiple video game developer groups, more than 100 by their own count. These studios include THQ Nordic, Coffee Stain, Saber Interactive, and Gearbox Entertainment. While they may not hold the same cultural recognition as the likes of Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft, control over 500 distinct IP is nothing to sneeze at.
And according to a new press release, they wish to have Asmodee's tabletop expertise under their umbrella as well. Asmodee's majority shareholder, PAI Partners, are currently in discussions to join Embracer Group. This will not lead to any major shake ups of management or business practices for those in Asmodee's employ, however. The company will continue to operate independently with no major reorganizations or restructuring by demand of the Embracer Group.
So why partner at all? Well, in addition to better access to money and resources, there is a reason cited in the press release. Quoting:
Asmodee and Embracer share a natural and strong bond in their strategy and cultures, focused on creating the best games and experiences – and make them available to the largest audience on all relevant gaming and media platforms. This would mark a transformative step in Embracer and Asmodee’s strategy and would create Europe’s largest gaming group, with an established market leading position in board games. Board games and video games are highly complementary and boast long term appeal to global consumers.
Considering Asmodee's push for more multimedia projects in the past, this kind of partnership makes more sense. This kind of partnership can lead to quicker and easier adaptations of different franchises into different mediums. For example, THQ Nordic's Kingdoms of Amalur series now has a direct means for a board game or card game adaptation. Alternatively, something like Asmodee's highly popular Arkham Horror franchise could easily get a video game adaptation now. Either of these ideas would then raise overall interest in the source material, which would lead to greater overall awareness, and therefore higher sales and profits.
