Embracer Group's quarterly financial results for January to March 2023 (its Q4) are now out, and they show growth in key areas such as net sales and operating profit margin, but it seems that the company's performance is falling short of expectations. The publisher's CEO Lars Wingefors describes the situation as a "challenging year" that was caused by many factors, including a "major strategic partnership" that fell through after months of negotiations.

The comments do not reveal the other party in this failed deal, but the company describes it as a "grounbreaking strategic partnership agreement that would have set a new benchmark in the gaming industry." The deal was for $2 billion in development revenue over six years, and Embracer says that it had a verbal commitment from the second party back in October 2022. There aren't that many entities in the game industry that can afford that level of investment, which have led some to speculate that it could be Amazon or Activision Blizzard.

The deal was apparently negotiated for seven months, with "several hundred people engaged on both sides." However, on the eve of the company's Q4 results, Embracer says that the deal was formally killed by the other party, which was "unexpected to the management and the Board of Directors of Embracer."