Deus Ex, TimeSplitters, Saints Row: Embracer signals a comeback window for dormant franchises
Embracer Group — the Swedish holding company that bought up dozens of gaming studios only to close many of them — says dormant franchises like Deus Ex, TimeSplitters, and Saints Row could get new life under a restructured licensing model. The company is splitting into two separate publicly listed businesses by 2027, with Fellowship Entertainment taking control of its most valuable IP. For fans still waiting on sequels that were quietly killed off, this is the first meaningful signal in years that revivals are at least possible.
The split
Fellowship Entertainment will house the marquee franchises: Tomb Raider, Lord of the Rings, Metro, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Dead Island, Darksiders, and Remnant. It is set to list on Nasdaq Stockholm in 2027 — timed, not coincidentally, alongside a Tomb Raider adaptation on Prime Video and The Hunt for Gollum in cinemas that December. A dedicated IP & Licensing unit, anchored by Dark Horse Media, will handle film, TV, comics, and consumer products tie-ins.
The dormant list
In a Wingefors open letter to shareholders, Embracer's chair Lars Wingefors named Deus Ex, Saints Row, Legacy of Kain, Red Faction, Thief, TimeSplitters, and The Mask as franchises the company will "more actively explore" through external partnerships. As VGC on partnership exploration notes, Wingefors described these IP as "among the most undervalued in the industry" — an implicit admission that Embracer failed to capitalise on them in-house.
The caveat matters: none of these are confirmed games. "More actively explore" is corporate language for early-stage talks. No partners have been named, no budgets disclosed, and no development timelines set. Embracer closed 44 studios and cancelled over 80 projects between June 2023 and May 2024 — including Volition (Saints Row), Free Radical Design (TimeSplitters), and a seven-year Eidos-Montréal project — so scepticism is earned.
What this means in practice
The licensing model is a shift away from the acquisition spree that caused so much damage. Rather than buying studios and absorbing them, Fellowship would license IP to external developers and publishers. That lowers Embracer's financial exposure while giving specialist studios a shot at franchises with proven fanbases.
Whether any external team actually picks up Deus Ex or TimeSplitters depends entirely on commercial negotiations that haven't started in earnest. But after two years of closures and cancellations, the door is at least open again.
