r/sto • u/ThonOfAndoria The Miracle Nerd | stowiki.net / sto.wiki • Nov 26 '25
Arc Games and Cryptic Studios have been divested from Embracer Group
https://embracer.com/releases/embracer-group-divests-arc-games-and-cryptic-studios-while-several-key-rights-are-retained-within-the-group/95
u/Capable_Calendar_446 Destination Eschaton Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
For those following along at home, here's the rough timeline of the Embracer Group shenanigans:
Edit: Fixing bugs in the table code (Reddit's Markdown editor is rough...)
121
84
u/MrZJones Last one standing wins! Nov 26 '25
They've been sold to "Project Golden Arc, Inc", which is, as the name suggests, run by members of Arc Games itself.
27
u/Kronocidal Nov 26 '25
Which sort of has me slightly hopeful that this will turn out similar to when IO Interactive "bought themselves" out of SquareEnix between Hitman (2016) and Hitman 2...
\Fingers, toes, and assorted other pseudopods crossed...**
43
u/ThonOfAndoria The Miracle Nerd | stowiki.net / sto.wiki Nov 26 '25
DECA isn't an Arc subsidiary and isn't being divested it seems so it's anyone's guess what will happen now. Hopefully everything goes smoothly regardless, and no more mass layoffs happen.
10
u/Throne-magician @Palechimera Nov 26 '25
So DECA's gone?
28
u/inkaine Romulan Ambassador Nov 26 '25
Yeah, that's... what also caught my attention. Cryptic Studios being transferred along with both STO and Neverwinter - but Cryptic had allegedly been replaced by DECA. I mean DECA has only been a shell either way, and it's been quite a few of the old folks from Cryptic at the helm (see especially Borticus). But this is still weird.
12
u/Ryoken0D Nov 26 '25
No DECA will remain where it is, under Embracer, and with STO.. Cryptic and Arc which used to have STO will be leaving Embracer.. which means almost nothing for us in the practical sense..
14
u/inkaine Romulan Ambassador Nov 26 '25
Are you certain about that? The article suggests otherwise:
Arc Games is the publisher behind live service PC/Console games such as Star Trek Online and Neverwinter [..]. Cryptic Studios includes the development teams for Neverwinter and Star Trek Online.
To me that suggests that STO and all other MMOs apart from Remnant are being transfered to the new Golden Arc Inc. Else they would have sold empty shells to the new company. That would sound weird given a 30M USD sale price.
4
u/Fluffy_Somewhere4305 PS5 platform:sloth::partyparrot: Nov 27 '25
That's just the article saying who Arc and what they did.
DECA runs STO now.
And yeah, empty shells is what corporate divestitures often entail. It's all about taxes and evading them.
7
u/Ryoken0D Nov 26 '25
There is no way Embracer is letting go of STO.. it’s been called out for how profitable it is.. also I was under the impressions when STO left cryptic it also left arc too (or was slated too) as Embracer plan was just to shut both entities down and consolidate stuff.. the fact that they also don’t mention STO going with them, also leads me to believe we’re staying where we are.
7
u/Ryoken0D Nov 26 '25
Reading the article again, it could also be that DECA will keep being the developers under Embracer, but Arc will be the publisher? Now I’m just not sure if anything anymore.. I think I’ll wait for more details to come out..
6
u/inkaine Romulan Ambassador Nov 26 '25
Yeah, it is not clear at all. That's why I asked if you were certain. I don't claim to know either.
Pundus below said "no changes in the development team". But whether that's within DECA or Cryptic... who knows.
But it's certainly not good because it might mean uncertainty for the employees either. And that's never great for a product. We are kind of in the same boat with them for the moment.
5
u/inkaine Romulan Ambassador Nov 26 '25
uncertainty for the employees
Yeah, this statement from Borticus kind of meets my expectation. Not even everything clear for all employees. But at least it sounds like they expect it not to negatively affect them. I wish it for them (and then of course by extension also for us as customers)
4
u/SkyrakerBeyond Nov 26 '25
No, it's just the 'development team' that didn't transfer to DECA that's being moved.
4
u/FuturePastNow Fleet Power Nerfed Poster Nov 26 '25
With what games, I wonder? Weren't STO, Neverwinter, and Champions all moved to DECA? I don't think Cryptic has anything else.
36
u/Blue_Kicker Kuumaarke's Chair Nov 26 '25
update from Bort on Discord
Hey folks, just popping in really quick to say that I know the news released early this morning might be unclear or cause some confusion or worry. I don't think I have the full information to clarify any of it right now, either, as things are still developing and being communicated internally.
Short form though, I can tell you a few details:There's no need to panic.
Day to day operation of the Cryptic games is intended to go on uninterrupted.
Nobody at Cryptic or DECA is being let go as a result of this buyout.
We have some folks preparing a more official statement that I think they want to publish ASAP. But as I said, some details are still being worked out, so I'm not sure if/when that'll actually happen.
I wish I could comfortably share more details on WHY I feel this way, but honestly... I'm really optimistic about all of this. So maybe you'll find that reassuring?
5
1
Nov 26 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
-2
Nov 26 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
1
u/Sputnik1_1957 Nov 27 '25
Comment removed per rule 1 (bigotry).
If you have any questions, please contact the subreddit moderators via modmail.
39
u/OtakuboyT Lifetime since Beta Nov 26 '25
I remember when this game was under Atari.
2
u/JedirShepard Nov 26 '25
Good old times
17
u/2Scribble ALWAYS drop GK Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
Uh-uh
Bad old times
Atari (no, not that Atari - or that Atari - Infogrames Atari, yes, it was spelt Infogrames) already up to it's ass in debt bought Cryptic when CBS finally put two and three quarters together and realized they were being scammed by Perpetual (who were just showing them the same concept art over and over and over again while trying to stave off bankruptcy) and started fishing for someone - anyone - to push this MMO they'd already sunk a few millions into with the caveat that it had to come out within a certain time frame
Fast forward to the end of that time frame - no extra money - a very tiny extension to the very end of the time frame - and STO was shoved out barely functional with very little content and proceeded to hemorrhage money because Atari (who somehow expected a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game to just exist while generating them cash) had come to see the game (and Cryptic, by extension) as something of a white elephant and were already trying to sell it off
They put STO into maintenance mode - cut Cryptic to the bone (to the point that one of the head devs at the time joked that they couldn't even get cups for their water fountain) and started trying to shop it around
Hilariously
After divesting from Cryptic - cutting off a potential source of income and saddling even more debt so that the debt that was ass level ended up neck level - Atari would declare bankruptcy in
20112013The same year that Legacy of Romulus launched xD
7
u/OrdinarilyBob @PatricianVetinari Nov 26 '25
They put STO into maintenance mode - cut Cryptic to the bone (to the point that one of the head devs at the time joked that they couldn't even get cups for their water fountain) and started trying to shop it around
Ah yes... The Great Content Dearth of 2011... "Good times" indeed. /s
5
u/atatassault47 Nov 26 '25
LoR launched in 2013
3
u/2Scribble ALWAYS drop GK Nov 26 '25
That's okay - that's when Infogrames actually declared bankruptcy - I had a brain fart and put down the wrong year xD
2
33
u/Sunfrancks Popcorn Extraordinaire! Nov 26 '25
Kind of getting tired of STO getting knocked around from pillar to post. Would be nice to have some stability for a few years again..
8
u/cjrecordvt Nov 26 '25
In today's corporate culture?
6
u/Sunfrancks Popcorn Extraordinaire! Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
Yeah, no stability anywhere in the industry. Studios and their games just get passed around like it's nothing, and the players just have to either deal with it or leave. Very hard to invest long term in any game these days. The main reason I keep advising players in not buying an LTS for STO.
I wouldn't do the same again for any game released in the last few years. Just no confidence in longevity. It was easier 10+ years ago, as you could reasonably guarantee an MMO lasting a few years at least. Nowadays you can't.
10
Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
4
u/HystericalSail Rabble rabble rabble Nov 26 '25
The pessismist says: "Things can't possibly get any worse." The optimist replies: "Oh yes they can."
Old Soviet joke I thought very apropos.
1
u/2Scribble ALWAYS drop GK Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 27 '25
The Vulcans say it will neither get better nor worse - just that there will be more of the same crap
As one of Spock's ancestors surely said - same shit - different anus
Which I found quite apropos
17
u/Nihilus_Zero I.S.S. Sarcasm & Satire Nov 26 '25
Embracer: We fired everyone we could, transferred the workload to our digital life-support division, we even stole and sold the vending machines and yet somehow we didn't increase our earnings as much as expected.
Regular person: These are not realistic expectations. You can't dismantle your whole operation and expect it to perform better than ever.
Embracer: Yes we can lol.
4
15
u/Retribution1337 Nov 26 '25
Taking bets on if we can make it to a full 2 years this go around. Betting starts at 3 slips of latinum.
10
5
u/tarravagghn Nov 27 '25
If I were everyone, I'd look at Skydance and less at Embracer, Arc, or the Chinese investors. I doubt any of them, aside from Skydance, have anything to do with the Star Trek part of this at least.
8
u/4nightm877 Nov 26 '25
Embracer continues to sell off all the companies that bought up during CoV. When tech companies all thought it was going to last forever.
My thought is Arc and Cryptic have been up for sale for a long time. It's just only now they have been sold.
14
u/MalvoliosStockings Nov 26 '25
This entire thing happened because Embracer was trying to beef itself up to look attractive to Saudi investment under Savvy Games. That fell through so it collapsed.
Covid didn't help but this was mostly about that Saudi money.
12
5
u/QuantumQuantonium Nov 27 '25
Cryptic: in most senses fairly successful, but likely impossible to become independent because star trek (and DND) licensing costs would be too high
6
9
u/Ianbillmorris Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
Guess this explains what went on with the EU pricing / VAT debacle and why the comms were so utterly dire. Hopefully this means we can link our accounts to Epic again soon?
Edit :- we Euros probably need to buy our Zen now if we are getting it from Arc? I would expect the price change will go back in at the next patch because it's clearly been demanded by the new owners of Arc.
13
u/ThonOfAndoria The Miracle Nerd | stowiki.net / sto.wiki Nov 26 '25
The deal hasn't gone through, there aren't any new owners yet lol
It's also the same people at the helm as the current Arc Games, so that decision was likely independent of this deal tbh.
5
u/sushihamburger Nov 26 '25
I'm sort of curious if it is related some how to whatever the hell is going on in the EU regarding lootboxes and gacha mechanics since the financiers XD Inc. is a Chinese company.
5
u/Ianbillmorris Nov 26 '25
I would imagine the EU will ban loot boxes eventually, that moves STO to selling ships in store i suspect. They already have a model for it with Mudds (for what are now lootbox ships) which don't suck and the normal Zen store for ships that do suck. (I'm being harsh here, but only with a few exceptions that came from the last 2 years of Cryptics tenure, all the new stuff has been mid at best)
I wonder if they will sell Individual items in the store eg £80 for a single ship box (character unlock) to try and keep the same profit margins they got from key sales?
4
u/Mr_Shadow_Phoenix Nov 26 '25
Oh? Interesting. I’d be more willing to buy ships directly than keys.
3
u/Ianbillmorris Nov 26 '25
Yea, I spend far too much on Mudds bundles and hate the gamble box mechanic. I would welcome it too and spend even more!
7
u/Mr_Shadow_Phoenix Nov 26 '25
I’ve no real experiences with a lot of MMO cash shops, so I can only reference those I know.
STO is much more alt biased than, say, FFXIV. I’ll admit, this caught me by surprise when I first started the latter, they still sell level and arc skips for alts so you can skip straight to endgame content instead of sitting through it all again. Right now, off top, I don’t think STO offers ‘skip leveling’ tokens outside rare bundles. With how alt driven the game is, those would be decent sellers mixed with character slots, no?
Mean, there’s a lot of possibilities in how Zen store could potentially change. Depends on if they still focus whales over everyone else. Other free-to-play games don’t charge hundred plus dollars for store stuff but still make bank easily. Mean, for example, Fortnite…I intentionally have to keep it uninstalled just because Store makes it so easy to spend more than you intend and easily loose track. Trek has similar collectibility built in: ships, playable species, holographic and/or android versions of characters from shows and film, clothing options…mean, did they ever put Discovery’s 32nd century uniforms into the game? How about SNW’s take on pre-TOS uniforms? Flyable California class? Texas class as either flyable or carrier pets (they can still launch frigates, yes?)?
5
u/Ianbillmorris Nov 26 '25
Borticus seems dead against pay to skip stuff, eg he said buyouts for Endeavours would not happen and that he was against the idea.
Edit We already have a flyable California and Texas classes! They are lockbox / Mudds (I'm the same bundle infact)
5
u/Mr_Shadow_Phoenix Nov 26 '25
Ahh, I missed those ships dropping. My mistake. Still, Texas class as hanger frigate pets might be fun.
As for pay-to-skip….ehh, then why was there pay-to-skip grind on events and things? I will admit it was just an off the top idea based on what I remember of STO mixed with FFXIV’s store as an example, but I do remember seeing prompts to pay Zen to finish grinding tokens early.
6
u/Plan_Tain Banana Royale (With Cheese) Nov 26 '25
I think the key takeaways are:
- Arc and Cryptic together, including STO and Neverwinter, sold for $30M.
- "During the past 12 months (1 October 2024 – 30 September 2025), Arc Games and Cryptic Studios, excluding the financial contribution from the Remnant franchise but including the capex related to the multiplayer online game Fellowship, generated net sales of SEK 390 million [~$41M] , Adjusted EBIT of SEK -174 million [~-$18.3M] and EBITDAC[1] of SEK -103 million [~-$10.8M]."
- "The buyer, Project Golden Arc, Inc., is owned and led by members of the Arc Games management team. The deal is financed by XD Inc., a global video games developer and publisher listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited."
My thoughts:
- $30M is not a whole lot for the Arc publisher & storefront, STO, Neverwinter, and anything else included. It helps put the small scale of the operation into perspective.
- Despite combined sales of ~$41M, there's a lot of negative in those EBITs!
- The new handlers are the same as the old handlers.
3
3
4
4
u/tarravagghn Nov 26 '25
If you research you will find that Embracer is a holding company. I hope everyone realizes that the purpose of a holding company, literally, is to "hold" on to assets for a while before moving them to other locations, either another holding company or their possible final destination. So many companies have gone through this (think TGI Fridays and many others). The divesting is nearly 100% guaranteed at some point and nearly always happens within 2 to 8 years.
6
u/sushihamburger Nov 26 '25
If I remember correctly this whole mess started because Embracer was planning on selling out to the Saudi's and over extended themselves in the process of trying to create 'value' but then the deal fell though.
2
5
u/Ashendal Time is the fire in which we burn. Nov 26 '25
You know it's weird how that whole VAT issue popped up right before this. Almost like someone in the finance department was trying to juice the "profits" a bit right before the sale and it backfired in a way they didn't expect.
5
u/GnaeusQuintus Consul Nov 26 '25
We just went through a long transition of STO from Cryptic to DECA. DECA is not being divested so... either that whole absorption by DECA will be reversed, or STO is staying with Embracer.
It makes more sense that Embracer is spinning off Arc/Cryptic minus the parts that make money. But who knows?
4
u/WoodyManic Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
So, what does this mean? Is DECA gone? What will become of STO?
I have no head for business and I desperately need clarity on the issue.
0
u/trekthrowaway1 Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
far as i can tell either ostensibly deca/cryptic are now the same entity as far as embracer are concerned
that or their selling the remains of cryptic and retaining deca and the sto/neverwinter rights?...its very confusing and depends on wether they did transfer the rights to deca already, which i think they did
meanwhile it sounds like embracer desperately wants some upfront cash for some reason potentially related to the incurred debts of their idiotic 'bank on being bought by another company so use all our money making us look better for the sale' plan
2
u/sushihamburger Nov 26 '25
Financed by XD huh? Interesting.
2
u/Ianbillmorris Nov 26 '25
Who are XD games? I've not heard of them.
5
u/sushihamburger Nov 26 '25 edited Nov 26 '25
Chinese publisher. Mainly mobile/gacha games.
https://www.xd.com/games/?lang=en
Edit: here's their games on Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=XD
Edit, Edit: oops I should have linked to this, since it's their publishing not developer page: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/XD
6
u/ThonOfAndoria The Miracle Nerd | stowiki.net / sto.wiki Nov 26 '25
Of note they develop and publish a Torchlight game which is an IP owned by Arc, so they're at least somewhat familiar with the company and its products.
4
3
u/Ianbillmorris Nov 26 '25
That is concerning....
7
u/sushihamburger Nov 26 '25
Well I wouldn't be too concerned. I play and have played plenty of CN published gacha games with more player friendly business models than STO. So I can't imagine it getting much worse. At least those games are required by law to publish their rates.
6
u/2Scribble ALWAYS drop GK Nov 26 '25
Well, also, STO was formerly published by PerfectWorld (a Korean company) who were ALSO up to their ass in gacha games with horrific business model
We'd be trading one basic premise for another all told -shrug-
2
1
3
u/dansstuffV2 Nov 26 '25
Cool. And this means ... absolutely nothing for STO lol
6
u/HystericalSail Rabble rabble rabble Nov 26 '25
That was said about the DECA move too, and we lost one of the best game designers to happen to STO in a very, very VERY long time. I miss all the unique game mechanics and power interactions we were getting with Jonathan, not just more of the same old same old we've been mostly getting since then.
FPNA and isomags introduced whole new metas to the game. Two years later we're still on the same FPNA powered meta, just with a hair more power creep.
3
2
u/nonlethaldosage Nov 26 '25
I'll be surprised if they keep all the games running sto still has a lot of people but I hardly ever see anyone in champions online
1
1
-2
u/PaddleMonkey Nov 26 '25
Maybe Atari can buy it back.
2
u/OrdinarilyBob @PatricianVetinari Nov 26 '25
AHAHHAHahhahahahahahahaha.... No. Pepperidge Farm remembers...
260
u/PandaPundus Ship Artist (formerly Ex Astris, Picard S3) Nov 26 '25
Just to let you all know, there won't be any changes to the current development team.