Ubisoft Montreal is the latest company hit by ongoing cuts as 75 members of staff have been laid off at the Canadian studio.
19.10.2023 - 09:05 / videogameschronicle.com
Zen Studios has become the latest studio owned by Embracer Group to be hit with layoffs.
A source at the Budapest, Hungary-based studio, which is best known for its Pinball FX and Zen Pinball series, reportedly told Videogamelayoffs that 32 members of staff had lost their job.
Zen Studios, which was founded in 2003, employed 65 developers when Embracer acquired it in 2020 through its subsidiary Saber Interactive.
A spokesperson for Embracer told GamesIndustry.biz the company wouldn’t comment on specific studios, but reiterated its previous statement about its ongoing restructuring.
Embracer announced in May thata major deal had fallen through unexpectedly at the last minute, causing it to slash its earnings forecast. The deal was reportedly a $2 billion partnership with the Saudi government-funded Savvy Games Group.
This led to Embracer announcing in June that it was implementing a “restructuring program” which would involve “the closing of studios and termination of projects”.
Embracer has since made layoffs at companies including Gearbox Publishing, Tomb Raider maker Crystal Dynamics, and Knights of the Old Republic remake studio Beamdog.
It also shut down Saints Row developer Volition in August and is reportedly considering selling Borderlands maker Gearbox, which it acquired in 2021 in a deal worth up to $1.4 billion.
2023 has seen widespread reports of job losses across the games industry, including Cambridge, UK-based Frontier Developments earlier this week.
Ubisoft Montreal is the latest company hit by ongoing cuts as 75 members of staff have been laid off at the Canadian studio.
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Embracer Group layoffs have hit animation studio Digic Pictures, which the company acquired in 2021.
Hungary-based animation studio Digic has laid off 35 members of staff.
The British studio is part of PlayStation Studios and working on an unannounced game.
Staff at UK developer Media Molecule have today been told to expect job losses, with around 20 staff expected to be laid off.
2023's mass eradication of the games industry continues with reports of layoffs at Sony Interactive Entertainment and PlayStation Studios. It's unclear how extensive these losses are - Sony have yet to provide comment, at the time of writing - but they appear to include staff at PlayStation's Visual Arts studio, based in San Diego, which supports developers like The Last of Us creators Naughty Dog and Spider-Man 2 creators Insomniac.
Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) has said the campaign portion of its controversial space sim is finally “feature complete”, over a decade after it was announced.
The Star Citizen alpha updates continue, adn this time we’re up to alpha 3.21 with the release of a new patch dubbed Mission Ready.
Zen Studios, the team behind the Pinball FX series, is reportedly one of the latest companies to have been hit by layoffs this year.
Pinball FX and Zen Pinball developer Zen Studios is the latest Embracer owned studio to see layoffs.
Over 30 members of staff have been made redundant at Pinball Arcade maker Zen Studios.