Embracer sales drop 22% to $1.5bn, $298m debt remains

Embracer Group has published its financial results for the nine months ending December 31, 2024, reporting declines across its PC/console and mobile segments.

However, it experienced a net profit during its third quarter following the completed spin-off of tabletop publisher Asmodee.

Here’s what you need to know:

The numbers:

For the three months ending December 31, 2024

Net sales: SEK 7.4 billion ($680 million), down 3% year-on-year, including:

• PC/console games: SEK 2.6 billion ($242 million), down 23% year-on-year
• Mobile games: SEK 1.6 billion ($149 million), up 2% year-on-year

Net profit: SEK 960 million ($89 million, compared to net loss of SEK 1.8 billion / $167 million during the same period last year)

For the nine months ending December 31, 2024:

Net sales: SEK 16.9 billion ($1.5 billion), down 22% year-on-year including:

• PC/console games: SEK 7.3 billion ($679 million), down 35% year-on-year
• Mobile games: SEK 4.4 billion ($409 million), down 3% year-on-year

Net loss: SEK 1.3 billion ($121 million, compared to net loss of SEK 1.4 billion / $130 million during the same period last year)

The highlights:

Embracer Group attributed its profit of SEK 960 million ($89 million) during the third quarter to the spin-off of tabletop publisher Asmodee.

The process was completed on February 7, 2025, and Asmodee is now a separately listed company trading on Nasdaq Stockholm.

Coffee Stain & Friends is the last company to become independent of the Embracer Group as it splits into three publicly listed companies. Middle-Earth Enterprises & Friends – which includes developers Warhorse Studios and Crystal Dynamics – will remain within the Embracer Group as it is currently listed.

This ongoing process resulted from a nine-month restructuring program, which saw the closure of Volition Games, Free Radical Design, and Campfire Cabal and the sale of Saber Interactive and Gearbox. More than 1,400 employees were laid off as a result.

By the end of 2024, Embracer Group recorded a net debt of SEK 3.2 billion ($298 million, compared to SEK 16.1 billion / $1.5 billion at the end of 2023.

The number of game developers working at Embracer Group compared to the same period last year fell from 9,896 to 5,757. The total headcount dropped from 12,695 to 7,873 employees.

Back to the financial report, Embracer Group saw a decline in its PC/console segment due to “limited new releases” and divestment of Saber and Gearbox being included in comparison figures.

Revenue from back catalogue titles, including platform deals, dropped 14% to SEK 1.7 billion ($158.7 million), which was also impacted by the sales of Saber and Gearbox.

However, Embracer Group highlighted the success of Warhorse Studios’ Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which launched on February 4.

The action-role-playing game reached 1 million players in 24 hours and had over 250,000 concurrent players on Steam.

“It is our strong belief that the game will continue to generate substantial revenues over the coming years, highlighting the exceptional quality, immersion and appeal of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2,” said CEO Lars Wingefors.

“Warhorse Studios has a robust roadmap, including updates and new content over the next 12 months, ensuring an engaging and continuously evolving experience for the community.”

As a result, Embracer Group has an optimistic outlook for its Q4 results, which it attributes to not only Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, but also the release of Tripwire Interacitve’s Killing Floor 3 on March 25.

However, it noted that revenue “is expected to be slightly negatively impacted” by the release of Heart Machine’s Hyper Light Breaker, which was released in early access on January 14.

Elsewhere in the report, Embracer Group reported a slight growth in mobile, which was attributed to a strong holiday period for DECA Games and CrazyLabs.

The latter saw two new releases that drove “higher sales and user acquisition cost”. The firm said mobile is expected to go “into growth mode” during H1 FY2025-26, driven by CrazyLabs taking over the publishing rights of Bus Frenzy – Traffic Jam.

“Embracer today has an increased focus on IP development within PC/console and mobile,” said Wingefors. “However, we recognise that there is still work to be done to further enhance our operational resilience and optimise our business for the future.”

He added: “Looking into the upcoming three financial years, we currently have 10 AAA games under development, of which eight are from internal studios and two from external studios. This number does not include the releases in the current quarter, or any projects financed by third parties.

“However, we want to be clear that there is room to provide more time for development if deemed necessary to optimise both the quality and overall ROI, as we did with both Dead Island 2 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.”