Blizzard has been tuned in to player feedback, and they've stated that they're committed to improving Diablo 4's endgame. Player feedback from those who tested the new Pit of Artificers coming in Season 4 was largely positive, but players noticed that the activity wasn't dropping nearly enough crafting materials for the new Masterworking crafting system. On the PTR, The Pit dropped the same amount of crafting materials whether solo or in a group, but the player opening the dungeon received a slightly larger share of the spoils. Blizzard's intent behind this system was to ensure that solo players wouldn't feel obligated to join groups, and that seems reasonable at first glance. However, not increasing the total crafting material yield when completing The Pit while grouped actually pushed players in the opposite direction — players were discouraged from running The Pit in groups unless they could complete the dungeon three times faster than they could have completed it solo. Thankfully, Blizzard appears to have listened to player feedback on this, and according to the recently released patch notes, the newly updated system is going to be much more straightforward: players opening The Pit now receive 100% of the crafting materials that they would have received solo while group members receive 50%. Updated Pit Drop Rates While Grouped
Embracer Group plans to split into three separate companies
23.04.2024 - 07:48 / thesixthaxis.com / Lars Wingefors
Embracer Group has announced its intent to split into three separately listed companies through 2024 and 2025 in the most drastic restructuring effort since the company fell into financial hardship last year, and bringing an end to the megalithic IP and studio acquisition project of the last decade. Asmodee Group will split off this year, with “Coffee Stain & Friends” and “Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends” then splitting up in 2025.
These latter two company names will be decided in due course, with “Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends” being a part of the remaining Embracer structure, which will then be renamed.
“This move has been made with the intention to unleash the full potential of each team,” says Lars Wingefors, co-founder and Group CEO of Embracer Group. “This is the start of a new chapter, a chapter that I intend to remain part of as an active, committed, and supportive shareholder of all three new entities, with an evergreen horizon. This move towards three independent companies reinforces Embracer’s vision of backing entrepreneurs and creators with a long-term mindset, allowing them to continue to deliver unforgettable experiences for gamers and fans across the globe.”
The result will be three companies with loosely equivalent net sales and portfolios.
Asmodee is described as “a global leading tabletop games publisher and distributor”, and will feature 23 in-house studios and over 300 IPs including Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders, Azul, CATAN, Dobble, Exploding Kittens, and licensed games based on The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Game of Thrones, Netflix, Lego and Star Wars.
Coffee Stain & Friends will be engineered to lean toward indie games, A and AA premium games and free-to-play, with an emphasis on the high-margin and recurring revenues. It will included Coffee Stain, Ghost Ship, Tarsier, Tuxedo Labs, THQ Nordic – shockingly, since this was the original basis of Embracer – and Amplifier Game Invest, with F2P coming through Easybrain, Deca, CrazyLabs and Cryptic. That gives them IP including Deep Rock Galactic, Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Wreckfest, Teardown, Valheim , and over 200 other IPs.
And finally, Embracer itself will then be Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends, which is to be “a creative powerhouse in AAA game development and publishing for PC and console.” Under this umbrella will be the Plaion publishing arm (formerly Deep Silver), Freemode, Dark Horse, and the studios at Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Eidos-Montréal, Flying Wild Hog Studios, Tripwire, Vertigo Games, Warhorse Studios and 4A Games.
The Lord of the Rings is the biggest IP that this company will hold, but there’s also Dead Island, Killing Floor, Kingdom Come Deliverance, The Lord of the Rings, Metro and Tomb Raider.
Em
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Embracer Group to transform into three separate companies – Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends
Embracer Group has announced its intention to transform into three standalone publicly listed entities: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.
Embracer Group announces plans to split into three separate companies
Swedish game and media holding company Embracer Group has announced its plans to split into three separate entities.