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29.11.2023 - 23:39 / pcgamer.com / Phil Rogers / Lays Off
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.
Fishlabs is best known for the well-received «sentient starfighter» sim Chorus, but it's also had a hand in recent games including Dead Island 2, the Saints Row reboot, and the Xbox version of Valheim. It was working on an unannounced game known internally as Project Black, but parent company Plaion, one of Embracer's internal divisions, said it was unable to find financing for the project and was thus forced to cancel it and cut employees. Remaining Fishlabs employees will continue to work on «existing co-development projects» with other Embracer studios.
«We are facing a tough moment together,» Plaion vice president Lars Janssen said in a statement. «Each individual at our Fishlabs studio has been more than just a team member; they've been a vital part of our creative journey, bringing not only their skills but also their passion and dedication to every project. We're truly thankful for the energy and heart they've invested in our collective endeavors. This painful decision is a reflection of the broader challenges in the gaming industry, not the incredible talents or efforts of our team.»
Of course, it's fair to say that this tough moment is not really being faced «together»: 50 employees suddenly no longer have jobs, while the company leadership whose decisions led to Embracer's catastrophic situation are still comfortably employed. In fact, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors and the company's board of directors were formally "discharged from liability for the financial year 2022/2023" during the company's annual general meeting in September.
It's grossly unfair, but it's also, very unfortunately, the nature of the business. That point was emphasized last week by Embracer chief strategy officer Phil Rogers, who said the company's ruthless reduction in headcount—roughly 5% of its workforce as of mid-November, totalling around 900 employees—is «an agonizing process» but also "how we win."
A day after the Fishlabs layoffs were announced, VGC reported that Embracer is also looking at closing Free Radical Design entirely. Free Radical was founded in 1999 and closed in 2014, but was then "reformed" in 2021 to work on a new TimeSplitters game. That's presumably off the table now: Sources told the site that an internal email said Free Radical is facing «potential closure» on December 11, and while it's possible that the studio could remain open if Embracer can find a buyer for it, the specificity and proximity of that date makes it seems
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Art work reportedly taken from Free Radical Design's unreleased TimeSplitters game has popped up online.
Plaion, the Embracer-owned games publisher in charge of TimeSplitters developer Free Radical, has confirmed the studio has been closed.
Back in 2021, Free Radical Design was brought back from the dead to work on a new Timesplitters game. Today, the industry has been hit with more layoffs as news trickles out that Free Radical Design has been shut down by parent company Embracer. This follows a string of studio shut downs by Embracer following a $2bn deal falling through. That includes the closure of Saints Row developer Volition.
Update, 12/12/23:
Hasbro, the parent company behind Wizards of the Coast, which itself is responsible for both Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, is laying off 1100 employees, as reported by Dicebreaker and The Wall Street Journal. The company, which is also behind the Transformers franchise (toys and other media), announced this decision yesterday, on December 11.
Embracer Group’s brutal company-wide cutbacks are continuing, and Free Radical Design is the latest studio to suffer the chopping block. Reports indicated last month that Embracer was considering shuttering the TimeSplitters studio just two years after its re-establishment, while later in November, it emerged that Free Radical was facing closure before Christmas.
Back in 2021, Free Radical Design was brought back from the dead to work on a new Timesplitters game. Today, the industry has been hit with more layoffs as news trickles out that Free Radical Design has been shut down by parent company Embracer. This follows a string of studio shut downs by Embracer following a $2bn deal falling through. That includes the closure of Saints Row developer Volition.
TimeSplitters developer Free Radical Design closed its doors today, staff are now reporting via social media.
By Jon Porter, a reporter with five years of experience covering consumer tech releases, EU tech policy, online platforms, and mechanical keyboards.
It appears that, as first rumored in November, TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design has been closed. The studio's website has been scrubbed and now bears a simple message saying «404 Company not found :(,» while multiple employees have said that today was their last day.
At first it was a rumor, then it was news, and now it’s a reality. The recently revived Free Radical appears to have closed down today, another loss in Embracer Group’s ongoing campaign of shutdowns and layoffs.