Tokyo-headquartered publisher Nexon has grabbed a majority stake in Stockholm-based studio Embark.
Embark was established last year by EA’s former chief design officer and DICE founder Patrick Söderlund, and pledged to create “new types of interactive entertainment and simulated virtual online worlds.”
Nexon had already agreed to back the fledgling studio as its “sole strategic equity investor” and publisher, but has now upped its stake in the company to 66.1 percent from 32.8 percent.
As a result of the purchase, Embark will become a consolidated subsidiary of the Nexon Group. Söderlund, who joined the Nexon board of directors last year, will retain his position.
“Embark has been making incredible progress on its projects in a short period of time, and since joining the board, Patrick Söderlund has been essential in helping drive our vision forward, so it only made sense to bring the companies even closer together,” said Nexon president and CEO, Owen Mahoney.
“Bringing Embark into the Nexon family will be integral to our Western growth strategy, accelerate our ability to share expertise across studios and maximize our expertise of live game operations to create deeply engaging online worlds.”
Embark, meanwhile, claims the deal and Nexon’s expertise in making online titles will “super-charge” its slate of projects, one of which is cooperative free-to-play action game set in a distant future.
The company is also working on a platform that will apparently let anyone create interactive experience, even if they’ve had no proper experience with game development tools.