Nintendo has purchased Switch port studio Shiver Entertainment from Embracer in a rare acquisition for an undisclosed sum. Gamers will know Shiver Entertainment as the team responsible for porting wizard-sim Hogwarts Legacy to the Switch, and the developers of the critically panned Mortal Kombat 1 port for Nintendo’s hybrid console.
According to a press release from Nintendo, the acquisition allows the firm to ‘secure high-level resources for porting and developing software titles’. The new deal will see Nintendo acquire 100% of outstanding shares in Shiver and make it a wholly-owned subsidiary.
Shiver Entertainment’s focus will reportedly “remain the same, continuing commissions that port and develop software for multiple platforms including Nintendo Switch”. It’s assumed that Florida-based Shiver Entertainment will also help deliver more new releases to the highly anticipated successor to the Nintendo Switch.
It’s rare to see Nintendo make studio acquisitions as the Japanese console maker tends to prioritise in-house development. The Embracer Group on the other hand has undertaken a seemingly non-stop series of high-profile studio purchases since 2017. The Swedish gaming and media company currently own over one hundred studios worldwide including several former Square-Enix development teams.
The Embracer Group has recently sold several entities following a turbulent couple of years plagued by studio closures and mass layoffs. The group is currently planning to split into three separate companies on the Swedish stock exchange. For Nintendo, this new acquisition follows the recent reveal by President Shuntaro Furukawa that the company will unveil the successor to the Nintendo Switch by March 2025.
While Shiver Entertainment’s Switch port of Hogwart’s Legacy was viewed positively, the studios work on Mortal Kombat 1 left many gamers unimpressed, with reviews criticising the port for its overwhelmingly dire performance and terrible graphics when compared to versions for PlayStation, Xbox and PC.
