Embracer Group will spin off Coffee Stain Group into a standalone group by the end of 2025, the companies announced. At the same time, Embracer Group’s remaining business, previously known under the working name “Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends,” will be renamed Fellowship Entertainment, and a new holding company, Embracer AB, will be established as a long-term shareholder of Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain Group, and Fellowship Entertainment.
“We’re really proud of everything we’ve built as part of Embracer, and grateful for the support and trust we’ve received over the year,” said Coffee Stain co-founder and Group CEO Anton Westbergh in a press release. “Now, as we take the step to become a separately listed company, it feels both exciting and, honestly, a little bit scary—but in a good way.”
Westbergh continued, “The games industry is more competitive than ever, but also more rewarding if you do things right, and we believe this move gives us the clarity and control to navigate the landscape better on our own terms. We can now focus even more on what we do best—supporting our developers, staying close to our communities, and building an even brighter future for Coffee Stain.”
Embracer co-founder and Group CEO Lars Wingefors added, “Coffee Stain Group has incredible talent, [intellectual properties], and communities. To date, it has been a true recipe for success. I am confident in Anton’s strategy and leadership and see a clear long-term opportunity in attracting and enabling partnerships with like-minded independent game developers and talents.”
Coffee Stain Group will consist of more than 250 game developers and publishers across the following companies: Coffee Stain Studios, Ghost Ship Games, Tuxedo Labs, and certain studios from Amplifier Game Invest, all based in Scandinavia. Its intellectual properties include Deep Rock Galactic, Goat Simulator, Satisfactory, Teardown, Valheim, and Welcome to Bloxburg.
Fellowship Entertainment will consist of companies such as 4A Games, Aspyr Media, CrazyLabs, Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Dark Horse, Deca Games, Eidos Montreal, Flying Wild Hog, Gunfire Games, Limited Run Games, Middle-earth Enterprises, Milestone, PLAION, Tarsier Studios, THQ Nordic, Tripwire Interactive, Vertigo Games, and Warhorse Studios, among more than 40 other companies. The group will be steward of the commercial rights to J.R.R. Tolkien’s work The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, as well as intellectual properties Kingdom Come Deliverance, Metro, Dead Island, Killing Floor, Darksiders, Remnant, and Tomb Raider, amongst more than 300 other video game properties.
Here is Embracer Group’s breakdown of the transformation process:
- The shares in Coffee Stain Group will be distributed to the shareholders of Embracer, and are intended to be listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market in Stockholm.
- The intention is to carry out the spin-off by way of a dividend distribution of all shares, a so-called Lex ASEA dividend. The current dual share class of A and B-shares will be replicated into the new public company. Subject to approval of the general meeting of Embracer to distribute the shares of Coffee Stain Group and an approval from Nasdaq, it is anticipated that a listing of Coffee Stain Group can be completed by the end of calendar year 2025.
- Fellowship Entertainment (current Embracer Group) will remain listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.
- Further details, including the capital structure of both Coffee Stain Group and Fellowship Entertainment, will be provided ahead of the spin-off.
- As previously communicated, the largest shareholder, Lars Wingefors AB, will, in connection with the name change to Fellowship Entertainment, establish a privately held holding company. The new company will be named Embracer AB. It will act as an active and supportive long-term shareholder of Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain Group and Fellowship Entertainment, as well as potentially other companies complementing a wider ecosystem of capabilities within gaming and connected businesses managed by leading entrepreneurs and creators.