Last month we reported on Nexon taking 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. According to two new reports, Nexon one day can acquire all of Embark Studios’ stock.
You do know who Patrick Söderlund is, right? If not, he used to be Electronic Arts CFO and departed from the company back in the mid-part of 2018 after calling gamers “uneducated” during the Battlefield V female inclusion incident.
Now that you have an idea of Söderlund, on August 5th, 2019, websites gamesindustry.biz and videogameschronicle.com have it that Nexon will fully acquire stock in Embark Studios and that Nexon’s Western development strategy will be driven by Söderlund’s new company.
The former publication site writes that over the next five years or so, Nexon will have the option to buy all of the remaining stock. You can read the following quote right here:
“Nexon has further raised its stake in Embark Studios, and it will now have the option to buy all of the remaining stock over the next five years.”
The second website writes:
“Korean online games company Nexon has announced it’s to increase its stake in Embark Studios from 66.1% to 72.8%, with an option to purchase the Swedish firm’s remaining shares through Nexon stock over a five-year period.”
Personally, I don’t understand why Nexon is gobbling up stock in a company that hasn’t released its first game, let alone a gameplay or teaser trailer for its first IP?
Website GamesIndustry expresses shock in Nexon’s bullish and swift actions to secure so much stock in Embark Studios by noting:
“The acquisition is remarkable for its rapidity. Embark was only unveiled by founder and former EA executive Patrick Söderlund in November 2018.”
Last month 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. As it stands now, time will tell what Nexon and Embark Studios will release.
