Embracer Group Acquires Perfect World Entertainment and Dark Horse Media

You might know Cryptic Studios as the company that created Magic: Legends, a multiplayer RPG set in the world of Magic: Gathering, which was canceled before development went out of beta. However, Cryptic is responsible for other successful MMOs like Neverwinter and Star Trek Online, both of which are still supported.

THQ Nordic’s parent company, Embracer Group, has entered into an agreement to acquire Dark Horse Media, a well-known comic book company and owner of intellectual property in more than 300 franchises.

The news is delivered via a new Embracer Group press release, stating that “specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed for commercial reasons.” Embracer has revealed that Dark Horse will be the company’s tenth group of agents. The group continues to grow thanks to today’s acquisitions and the recent acquisitions of Borderlands manufacturer Gearbox and World War Z developer Saber Interactive.

The press release states, “The acquisition enhances Embracer’s transmedia capabilities by adding expertise in content development, comic publishing, and film and television production.” Dark Horse owns or controls more than 300 intellectual property, including Many are attractive for future transmedia uses, including creating new video games.”

Despite the acquisition, current Dark Horse CEO and founder Mike Richardson will continue to lead the comics creator.

“I cannot express the excitement I feel as the Dark Horse enters a new chapter in our history,” Richardson wrote in his press release. “The synergies that exist with Embracer’s corporate network promise exciting new opportunities not only for Dark Horse, but also for the creators and companies we work with. I had many persuasive conversations with Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors and was impressed with what he and his team have built. The future for our company looked brighter than ever.”

Dark Horse was founded in 1986 by Richardson with the idea of ​​”treating writers and artists as partners”. Today, it’s home to Dark Horse Comics, Dark Horse Entertainment, behind series such as The Umbrella Academy and Resident Alien, and Things From Another World, the company responsible for the creation of graphic novels, toys, figurines and more. Types of collectibles.

The acquisition is expected to close in early 2022.