Dauntless and Fae Farm developer Pheonix Labs has laid off 34 employees across its support teams.
16.11.2023 - 09:43 / pcgamesinsider.biz / Lars Wingefors
Swedish games giant Embracer Group has let go more than 900 people as part of its restructuring effort.
That's according to the company's financials for the three months ending September 30th, 2023, in which the firm revealed that it had made around 900 people redundant during this period. That's roughly five per cent of Embracer's global workforce.
These cuts began after Embracer failed to land a $2 billion deal – reportedly with Saudi Arabia – which would have helped the company pay for money already spent on game development. As a result, the firm has had to make considerable layoffs, as well as close studios and axe projects. Plaion's Volition has already bitten the dust, while there have been job cuts at a number of outfits in Embracer's stable, including Zen Studios, Cryptic and Rainbow. There are also reports that TimeSplitters maker Free Radical Design could be on the chopping block.
"In this group-wide effort, we are not only discontinuing a number of studios, we have also made staff reductions and reduced the number of projects in several other studios, with a focus on improving the projected return on investment within PC/console," CEO Lars Wingefors wrote.
"It’s never easy to part ways with talented individuals. I would like to put on record a special thanks to the people who have left Embracer in the quarter. These are difficult decisions and we do not take them lightly. For me, personally, it is crucial that the program is carried out with compassion, respect, and integrity."
Dauntless and Fae Farm developer Pheonix Labs has laid off 34 employees across its support teams.
66 members of The Game Awards Future Class, a program intended to honor people «who represent the bright, bold, and inclusive future for video games,» and hundreds of others involved with the videogame industry have signed an open letter calling for a statement acknowledging the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza during The Game Awards show in December.
There's more bad news out of struggling gaming conglomerate Embracer: The company has confirmed that approximately 50 employees are being laid off from Chorus developer Fishlabs, and is also reportedly looking at closing TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design completely.
German developer Fishlabs is the latest Embracer outfit to experience job cuts.
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The Embracer mass layoffs train has come for Fishlabs, the Hamburg-based studio behind space shooter Chorus. Embracer have laid off more than half the Fishlabs team - "around 50 people" - as part of a restructuring operation that has already seen the Swedish conglomerate cut over 900 jobs across their business over the summer.
One of the more memorable moments in the 2022 Game Awards came courtesy of a kid who crashed FromSoftware's acceptance of the Game of the Year award for Elden Ring. Don't expect something similar to happen in 2023, though, as TGA founder and host Geoff Keighley said during a recent Q&A livestream that «we definitely have plans» for better security at this year's event. Last year's stage-crasher was a bizarre prankster—he thanked his «Reformed Orthodox rabbi Bill Clinton» for the win—but ultimately harmless. A similar disturbance interrupted Gamescom Opening Night Live in August when two attendees rushed the stage and spoke into Keighley's microphone «Bill Clinton wants to play GTA 6,» an apparent nod to the Game Awards stage-crasher. But the ease with which these people infiltrated two major gaming events laid bare the fact that someone who isn't harmless could do the same thing. Sadly in this day and age, that's something organizers of public events like The Game Awards have to bear in mind. «Yeah, we are,» Keighley said when asked if security would be beefed up this year to prevent stage crashers. «We don't want to talk about that stuff too publicly, just because it's security and we definitely have plans, and we're trying to do all we can to keep me safe, but also everyone watching the show, in the audience, participating in the show and everything. »So yeah, it's something we're certainly thinking about. We appreciate the concern. Believe me, that's something that's top of mind for us, but we also want to put on a great show that celebrates these games, and celebrates our love for videogames. So that's an important thing to keep in mind as well. But I appreciate the concern around that."
Geoff Keighley, the host of The Game Awards, says that the awards show will have tighter security this year to help keep everyone safe.
The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley has secret security plans to prevent yet another stage invasion incident.
Embracer Group, the Swedish video game and media holding corporation responsible for a wide range of intellectual properties and game studios, has announced that it's laid off a total of 900 employees over the past three months.
Embracer boss Lars Wingefors is staying tight-lipped on the current state of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake.
Embracer Group released its latest financial report, which included updates on how their restructuring is going so far. With debt down to about $1.4 billion, there’s still more to go, even after laying off a confirmed 904 people so far.