Embracer Group has officially announced the divestment of Arc Games and Cryptic Studios this morning, but Fellowship will not be part of the sale. Instead, the game’s future is now looking brighter than ever, as Embracer transferred publishing rights to Coffee Stain Group. Coffee Stain is behind incredible titles like Deep Rock Galactic, Valheim, and Satisfactory, to name a few.
This move is part of a larger restructuring in which Coffee Stain will spin off into its own standalone, publicly listed company by the end of 2025.
“Fellowship” Name Confusion
A necessary clarification to avoid confusion: Embracer Group is renaming its remaining holding company to “Fellowship Entertainment.”
This is a separate entity from the game.
- Fellowship Entertainment: New name for the parent company (formerly Embracer), which holds the rights to Lord of the Rings, Tomb Raider, etc.
- Fellowship: Chief Rebel remains the developer, while Coffee Stain Group takes over publishing.
What This Means for the Game
According to the press release, Embracer sees Fellowship as a key asset. While Embracer sold Arc Games and Cryptic Studios, the company carved out the rights to Fellowship to ensure they stayed within their group.
Phil Rogers, CEO of Embracer, noted:
“The deal also allows online multiplayer game Fellowship, developed by a talented external team in Stockholm, to find a great home within Coffee Stain Group.”
Key Takeaways for Players:
- Developer: Chief Rebel remains the developer. The team of approximately 35 people continues to work toward the full version of the game.
- Publisher: Coffee Stain Group takes over. They are famous for “community-driven” success stories like Deep Rock Galactic, Valheim, and Satisfactory.
- Arc Games will remain listed as “co-publisher” of the game.
While not explicitly confirmed in the press release, this transfer logically points to the removal of the Arc Launcher. Currently, launching Fellowship on Steam forces the Arc client to open as a middleware step. With Embracer divesting Arc Games to a completely separate entity, Coffee Stain will likely patch this requirement out.
Coffee Stain typically publishes games on Steam without forcing third-party launchers. If this precedent holds, players can look forward to a cleaner, faster startup experience in the near future.
