Embracer Group may not be a name familiar to many of you, but the Sweden-based multimedia company currently employs almost 17,000 people and owns 131 game developers all over the world. Today, however, Embracer Group has announced a restructuring that will eventually include layoffs, game cancelations, and either the selling or shutdown of a number of its development studios.
The company has been on an acquisition spree in the past few years, buying game publishers and developers like Gearbox, Saber Interactive, 3D Realms, Crystal Dynamics, and many more. It has also acquired non-video game companies, including Dark Horse Comics, along with Middle-earth Enterprises, which owns the rights to The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit franchises.
In an open letter today on the Embracer Group site, its CEO Lars Wingefors, detailed what Embracer Group will do to cut costs:
The actions will include, but not be limited to, closing or divestments of some studios and the termination or pausing of some ongoing game development projects. It will also include decreased spending on non-development costs such as overhead and other operating expenses. We will reduce third party publishing and put greater focus on internal IP and increase external funding of large-budget games.
The restructuring will occur in a number of phases, ending sometime in March 2024. Wingefors did indicate that any decision to cancel upcoming games will be "almost entirely be around unannounced projects. All announced significant releases will still be released as planned."
There's no word on how many of the company's employees will be affected by the job cuts.
Embracer Group's upcoming announced game lineup includes titles like Remnant 2, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2, Payday 3, Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged, Arizona Sunshine 2, Alone in the Dark, and Homeworld 3.
One game that was released in April, Dead Island 2, has apparently been a sales success, with Wingefors stating that the zombie action game had "exceeded our management’s already high expectations."
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