Nintendo has announced that it is to purchase Hogwarts Legacy and Mortal Kombat 1 porting studio Shiver Entertainment from former owner Embracer Group.
In a notice announcing the acquisition, Nintendo says it will acquire "100% of [Shiver's] outstanding shares", making the company a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese gaming giant.
According to Nintendo, Shiver is an "experienced and accomplished" porting studio, although given the response to the Switch version of Mortal Kombat 1, I suspect there are some out there who will disagree.
The notice goes on to say that Nintendo will utilize Shiver's talents as "high-level resources for porting and developing software titles".
From Shiver's perspective, it doesn't sound like much will change; Nintendo says Shiver's "focus will remain the same" and that the studio will continue to take "commissions that port and develop software for multiple platforms including Nintendo Switch".
Nintendo also says that the Shiver acquisition will have "only a minor effect" on its fiscal results for the year, so although the amount for which Shiver was acquired hasn't been disclosed, it's unlikely to be a devastatingly expensive transaction for Nintendo.
Nintendo's purchase of Shiver comes at a time when Embracer Group is undergoing a rather drastic restructuring that will see it split into three different companies.
The first, Coffee Stain and Friends, will handle IPs like Goat Simulator and Satisfactory, while Middle-earth and Friends will oversee major IP like The Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, and more.
Finally, tabletop giant Asmodee will constitute the third company in Embracer's restructuring effort, and the studio has already been saddled with almost a billion euros in debt as a result of the restructuring.
We'll have to wait and see what Nintendo's purchase of Shiver Entertainment will yield, but you can expect to see the studio's name on more ports in the future, it seems. Stay tuned for more.
