Back in June, Embracer Group announced as part of its strategy the closure of studios and project cancellations due to a significant financial downturn. Just a few days ago, they announced the closure of Volition, the team behind Saints Row, and there have been speculations about undisclosed projects that were also canceled. However, this won't be the end of it, as the company has revealed that more closures are on the horizon.
Embracer Anticipates More Studio Closures and Project Cancellations
It seems that lean times will continue for Embracer Group, the European conglomerate that entered the video game industry with ambitions of consolidation. According to their CEO, Lars Wingefors (via Wccftech), the company will continue its restructuring efforts, which will involve further studio closures. The current focus is on achieving financial stability during the fiscal year: "It's difficult from many points of view, obviously, but we are determined to deliver on this. Ideally, we would like to find new opportunities for employees, even if they are potentially outside the Embracer Group. Sometimes it will be a divestment, or we are working with partners to fund some projects. But ultimately, we are making decisions to restructure or downsize some teams, and there will be some cases of closures. We are confident in meeting the goal set by the end of the fiscal year."
Embracer is Solely Focused on Achieving Financial Stability and Overcoming Challenges
One of the strong rumors circulating is the potential sale of Gearbox, the company behind Borderlands, as an emergency measure to recover from a significant business setback. In case you weren't aware, a few months ago, Embracer Group's stock price plummeted after the company revealed that a $2 billion deal fell through at the last moment. This deal was with Savvy Games, a Saudi Arabian company with government funding to invest in the entertainment sector.
On another note, it was confirmed yesterday that Crystal Dynamics, the studio responsible for Tomb Raider and currently working on Perfect Dark, underwent layoffs, a trend expected to continue in the coming months across the studios and projects under the Embracer umbrella.
Embracer Group's most recent release, Dead Island 2, a project in development for over 10 years, has fallen short of the company's and its partners' general expectations, especially considering the substantial investment made in studios and publishers.
Stay tuned here at LEVEL UP.
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