The Redwood City-based studio has confirmed that by joining Embracer Group, they have several of their IP back in their possession, rather than the previous owner.

In a brief statement on their website, Crystal Dynamics let us know that they have regained control of their former IP: “We are excited to inform you that Crystal Dynamics has taken control of several game franchises—including Tomb Raider and Legacy of Kain—from the games’ previous owner, Square Enix Limited. As a result of this change, Crystal Dynamics (or its affiliate) is now the owner of these games and the controller of the gameplay and personal data related to them. If you’d like to know more, please refer to our new Terms of Service and Privacy Notice. We look forward to taking this new and exciting journey with you!”

The studio, founded over thirty years ago (the team was born in July 1992), was acquired by Eidos Interactive in 1998. Still, in 2009, after Square Enix acquired Eidos, the Japanese publisher became the new owner until 2022, when for a surprisingly low price ($300 million is not a lot of money in the games industry!) Square Enix sold Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montréal and mobile Square Enix Montréal to Embracer Group.

From the studio, we saw the likes of Gex, followed by Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver, but from 2006’s Tomb Raider: Legend onwards, the team has been working on Lara Croft. Crystal Dynamics is also known for several other IPs (such as Whiplash and Project: Snowblind), most recently working on Marvel’s Avengers, one of Square Enix’s many live service failures (the latest being Babylon’s Fall, developed by PlatinumGames).

While the studio is helping The Initiative (part of Xbox Game Studios) with the Perfect Dark reboot, they also develop a new Tomb Raider game using Unreal Engine 5. (And they’re also leaving behind their proprietary technology, Foundation Engine, which powered the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy.)

Source: WCCFTech