Embracer Group acquires Little Nightmares dev Tarsier Studios for $10.5m Also gains Statik IP, but Little Nightmares and Stretchers remain with their publishers

James Batchelor UK Editor Friday 20th December 2019 Share this article Share

Swedish developer Tarsier Studios is the latest company to be picked up by the Embracer Group, formerly THQ Nordic AB.

The group, which also owns publisher THQ Nordic, Koch Media and Coffee Stain, spent SEK 99 million on the acquisition, encompassing SEK 88 million ($9.34 million) in cash and SEK 11 million ($1.17 million) in newly issued B-shares.

There is also a conditional earn-out, payable over ten years to "certain sellers who will remain with Tarsier."

The deal includes retaining all 65 Tarsier employees and gives Embracer ownership of its intellectual property rights. However, the Little Nightmares brand is owned with Bandai Namco, while Stretchers (a comical paramedic game that launched on Switch earlier this year) belongs to Nintendo.

The developer is best known for Little Nightmares but also developed VR puzzle title Statik, the rights to which pass to Embracer Group.

Tarsier will "remain autonomous" within the Embracer-owned sub-group Goodbye Kansas Game Invest, which was acquired earlier this year.

The studio will be working on new IPs after it completes current development projects, including Little Nightmares 2 for Bandai Namco.