Kaser Focus: Square away | VentureBeat

It’s always fun when there’s important news coming on a weekend, and while I’m sleeping, no less. I’m not joking – it means I get a barrage of interesting messages that I can see when I wake up and pick up my phone from Do Not Disturb. In this case, the news worth printing is Embracer Group’s purchase of Square Enix’s western studios, including Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montreal. It effectively bought the late Eidos’ descendants and all of his intellectual property. These include Tomb Raider, Thief, Deus Ex and Legacy of Kain.

You know what? I’m not mad about it. If there is a chance to get a new Thief or a new Deus Ex, then I personally benefit from this acquisition. I doubt Embracer would buy a game franchise with Tomb Raider’s recognition without intending to throw money into the new game project. i will like to get any new game in these franchises, and we already know that a new Tomb Raider is on the way. Part of me wonders if the intellectual property was the carrot that brought Embracer into the deal.

Speaking of recognizable franchises, the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake has moved back to Ubisoft’s Montreal office. It’s a shame to see it from the hands of the Pune and Mumbai studios – especially since they would know first hand about the game’s location and quasi-historical context. We’ll have to wait and see how far this throws the development back: so far, it has been severely delayed.

Also, I’ve started to work up my backlog after finally completing my Chinatown Detective Agency review. The May release period is a bit slower, so I might as well catch up on games I haven’t played yet. I still have Kirby to finish and I couldn’t touch the new Syberia game that came out a few weeks ago. I might also try Trek to Yomi. We have plenty of time before Geoff Keighley’s Not E3 Stravaganza begins in June.

What’s playing this week

What’s new:

• Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Demon Hunter
• citizen sleeper
• Hike to Yomi
• loot river

New to Subscription Services:

• FIFA 22 (Playstation Plus)
• Tribes of Midgard (PlayStation Plus)
• Curse of the Dead Gods (PlayStation Plus)
• The Curse of Monkey Island (Prime Gaming)
• Dead Space 2 (Prime Gaming)
• Out of line (Prime Gaming)
• Mail Mole + ‘Xpress Deliveries (Prime Gaming)
• Cat Quest (Prime Gaming)
• Shattered – The Tale of the Forgotten King (Prime Gaming)
• Lumote: The Mastermote Chronicles (Stadia Pro)
• Trailblazer (Stadia Pro)
• Paw Patrol The Movie: Adventure City Visits (Stadia Pro)
• Kaze and the Wild Masks (Stadia Pro)