According to a new report, after Nexon founder Kim Jung-Ju canceled selling the firm’s shares to other companies due to buyer disinterest, the corporation has taken up a significant amount of stake in Embark Studios for $96 million. In other words, the controversial figure that is Patrick Söderlund, who sits on Nexon’s board, will soon see his company become a consolidated subsidiary of Nexon Group.
In case you don’t know, Söderlund is the guy who said if you don’t like EA and DICE’s Battlefield V, then don’t buy the game. He’s also the one who brought up his daughter playing Fortnite and the whole nonsense regarding “uneducated” gamers.
Well, he’s back, and this time his company, Embark Studios, is partnering up with Nexon according to a new report by techcrunch.com:
“Six months ago Korean games giant Nexon seemed headed for a management change, but now it seems very much back to business as usual. Days after founder Kim Jung-ju was reported to have called off selling his near-50 percent share in the firm, Nexon has snapped up a controlling stake in seven-month-old game developer Embark for $96 million.”
Following this investment move, Söderlund will maintain his position on the Board of Directors and Nexon has already been confirmed as the publisher of Embark’s first upcoming game.
Furthermore, Nexon President and CEO Owen Mahoney chimed in to elaborate on the partnership between the two companies:
“Embark has been making incredible progress on its projects in a short period of time, and since joining the board, Patrick Söderlund has been essential in helping drive our vision forward, so it only made sense to bring the companies even closer together.”
Mahoney continues:
“Bringing Embark into the Nexon family will be integral to our Western growth strategy, accelerate our ability to share expertise across studios and maximize our expertise of live game operations to create deeply engaging online worlds.”
Söderlund on medium.com offers his take on the partnership with Nexon by noting:
“Nexon has been with us from the beginning, as our first and only investor and the publisher of our first game. Frankly, we wouldn’t be where we are without them. The team at Nexon has seen what we’ve managed to achieve over these past seven months, and believe in our studio and what we’re attempting to do.
We both know that game development needs an overhaul, and we’re both convinced that new technology, methodologies, and perspectives will completely reshape what games can become.”
Söderlund claims that the increased investment and support from Nexon will prevent them from going broke, I mean… so that they “can move a bit faster and focus even harder” on their long-term “mission.”
The team that was once at 50 and now approaching 80 employees is still developing the unnamed free-to-play co-operative action title.
Lastly, Embark Studios is also working on a platform that will let anyone create interactive experiences, as seen below:
