Crystal Dynamics Hit with Layoffs as Part of Embracer Group Restructuring

They had it coming.

Twitch has seen another round of layoffs, though full details are unknown.

In the latest in a string of whirlwind layoffs in the games-and-games-adjacent industry, it appears there has been another round of layoffs at Twitch, according to Today Off Stream’s Zach Bussey via Twitter. 

Sources have told Kotaku that developer Naughty Dog has laid off at least 25 contractor positions. Naughty Dog is responsible for Uncharted and The Last of Us series.

2023 has sadly been a year that has seen consistent widespread layoffs in the games industry, and recent days and weeks have seen another flurry of those, with the likes of Creative Assembly, Epic Games, and others having been hit with layoffs. Another company has, unfortunately, now joined that list.

Team17, the publisher of works such as Blasphemous 2, Gord, and Moving Out 2 has entered “a period of consultation,” meaning the company will seek to identify potential redundancies in the organization.

Last week ended with a dire flood of layoffs in the games industry, including Sega, Ubisoft, Blizzard, and Epic games. Unfortunately, this week seems to be following the trend – Team17, developer of the Worms series, and publisher of games like Blasphemous, Dredge, and more, has announced layoffs as well, according to Eurogamer.

We're quite looking forward to Hellboy Web of Wyrd. This upcoming game based on the popular comic books puts a roguelike spin on the character and his supernatural world, matching the visual style and telling an original tale as well. However, publisher Good Shepherd Entertainment has announced it'll be a slightly longer wait than we were expecting.

First announced two years ago, at Sony’s showcase in 2021,Star Wars: The Old Republic’s remake is seemingly being officially scrubbed from around the internet. Could the project be another casualty as part of Embracer Group’s reorganization?

Sega recently announced that as part of its efforts to “improve profitability” where its European business is concerned, it had cancelled HYENAS, Creative Assembly’s upcoming multiplayer shooter (along with other, unannounced titles). In the wake of that cancellation, the developer has shared further bad news.

Like many Eastern European companies, SayGames has had a tumultuous time with the war in Ukraine. But SayGames has achieved four billion downloads for its hypercasual games, and its My Perfect Hotel hybrid casual game has hit the top ranks of mobile gaming.

Crystal Dynamics, the developer behind the rebooted Tomb Raider franchise, has been hit with a round of layoffs. This follows the ongoing crumbling of Embracer Group, which announced a large-scale restructuring of its assets in June, resulting in layoffs, closures and cancellations.