10th May 2022, 6:24 PM
Capitalism, when properly controlled by government and mixed with some socialist elements, is the best economic system we have. There are not alternatives that are viable at all.
Anyway, I'm definitely no fan of Embracer. Their model is "basically buy up the whole Western A to AA-tier developer industry, excepting studios being bought by Microsoft and Sony and such", and that's really sad; the industry is a better place with more developers, not fewer, and more publishers, not fewer. The insane consolidation we are seeing is absolutely horrible for the industry. I don't like that Microsoft and Embracer seem to be basically buying up all of the mid-tier Western studios, no. Overall I'd rather that Square had kept Eidos.
So, what did Square say about why they sold Eidos? Looking it up, it's both what you said and what I said -- they're investing more in "AI, blockchain, and the cloud" and also say that these three studios (Square-Enix Montreal, Crystal Dynamics, and and Eidos) weren't profitable enough. And if you look into why they weren't profitable enough, the Marvel games are a big part of why, though Tomb Raider has a part too, I think the last one wasn't as successful as earlier titles. But on that former part, yes, that they're selling studios while investing in crypto stuff is utterly despicable, no question about it. That's about as wrong as you can get. But if the studios were as profitable as you suggest they would be much less likely to be selling them.
With that said, mismanaging your studios, selling them, and investing in blockchain nonsense are not exactly moves that a competently run company does. So yeah, Square definitely looks bad for this one.
Anyway, I'm definitely no fan of Embracer. Their model is "basically buy up the whole Western A to AA-tier developer industry, excepting studios being bought by Microsoft and Sony and such", and that's really sad; the industry is a better place with more developers, not fewer, and more publishers, not fewer. The insane consolidation we are seeing is absolutely horrible for the industry. I don't like that Microsoft and Embracer seem to be basically buying up all of the mid-tier Western studios, no. Overall I'd rather that Square had kept Eidos.
So, what did Square say about why they sold Eidos? Looking it up, it's both what you said and what I said -- they're investing more in "AI, blockchain, and the cloud" and also say that these three studios (Square-Enix Montreal, Crystal Dynamics, and and Eidos) weren't profitable enough. And if you look into why they weren't profitable enough, the Marvel games are a big part of why, though Tomb Raider has a part too, I think the last one wasn't as successful as earlier titles. But on that former part, yes, that they're selling studios while investing in crypto stuff is utterly despicable, no question about it. That's about as wrong as you can get. But if the studios were as profitable as you suggest they would be much less likely to be selling them.
With that said, mismanaging your studios, selling them, and investing in blockchain nonsense are not exactly moves that a competently run company does. So yeah, Square definitely looks bad for this one.