Following controversial reviews on the Saints Row reboot, Embracer stock price dropped about 7% overnight reaching the lowest levels since May 2022.
On August 22, 2022, when the embargo for Saints Row reviews was lifted, it became known that many journalists and critics heavily criticized the action-adventure video game.
Judging by the reviews, the game turned out to be rather unsuccessful – while the game holds several fresh ideas, it is also full of outdated concepts due to which the open world looks too boring and featureless, according to critics. Some even called the game "terrible", others "generic", although, to be fair, some reviews still note that it is "worthy of your time."
Additionally, many critics state that the game also has a number of technical issues – in their opinion, the game has to be polished, and it is unlikely that all the bugs and other shortcomings will be fixed by the first-day patch.
Following these controversial reviews, the shares of the Embracer holding, which owns the publisher Deep Silver and the Volition studio that were responsible for the Saints Row reboot, started to decline. As reported by Axios, Embracer's stock price fell about 7% overnight.
By the time of writing, the price of the holding's shares dropped by 11.7% compared to August 21. Currently, it reaches SEK 65.57, the lowest level since May 2022.
Earlier, Embracer stated that one of its strategies is to have as many projects going to make up for any single, expensive project that fails. The company has also benefited from acquisitions of various studios and their IPs for comparatively low prices.
Just recently, Embracer acquired Middle-earth Enterprises along with rights to make video games based on its IPs including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. While the price of the purchase was not disclosed, many claim that it was surprisingly low.
Previously, the company also revealed that it entered into an agreement to acquire Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, and Square Enix Montréal from Square Enix along with the catalog of IPs including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Legacy of Kain, and more for just $300 million.
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