EMBRACER GROUP News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

The early months of 2023 saw Embracer Group failing to close a $2 billion deal with Saudia Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, following which the company initiated a restructuring program that would entail layoffs, project cancellations, and studio closures. Sadly, Embracer Group’s continued efforts to stabilize its financial situation have come at the cost of a staggering number of company-wide cuts, and that’s something that’s continued into the new year.

2023 has been another great year for games as a whole with some exceptional experiences that have been a pure joy to play, but as always there’s been some jarring disappointments that hit hard, and we’ve seen the impact of slowing economies around the world on executives making business decisions.

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Developer Free Radical Design has been shut down by Embracer Group, and the TimeSplitters reboot the studio had been working on has been presumably cancelled. In the wake of the studio’s shutter, several former employees have shared concept art for the shooter, showcasing weapons, environments, characters, and more.

Free Radical Design was recently shut down by Embracer Group, under three years since it was re-established to begin development on a new instalment for the dormant TimeSplitters franchise. In the wake of the studio’s shuttering, concept art for the first person shooter, which is thought to be cancelled, has emerged online.

Embracer Group’s internal restructuring program has been a brutal one that has resulted in mass layoffs across a number of studios owned by the company, and the company is continuing to make cuts. The latest studios that have been hit with layoffs are 3D Realms and Slipgate Ironworks, both of which were acquired in 2021 and operate under the Saber Interactive banner.

3D Realms and Slipgate Ironworks are the latest studios to be affected by Embracer's restructuring program.

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.

New World Interactive, a subsidiary of Saber Interactive, is seeing layoffs. The studio is the latest one under the overall Embracer Group umbrella to face layoffs as part of the company’s major restructuring.

2023 has been a turbulent year for Embracer Group, with a number of its many studios and projects having been affected by widespread layoffs and an internal restructuring initiative. Now, another studio under the company’s umbrella has been hit with significant layoffs.

After reports from earlier this month that developer Free Radical Design—which had been working on a revival of classic sci-fi shooter TimeSplitters—was on the verge of being shut down, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors has seemingly confirmed internally that the studio will be closed before Christmas.

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Embracer Group’s restructuring efforts have hit another of the company’s studios. This time, around 50 employees have been let go from Fishlabs, a studio known for Galaxy on Fire and bringing Valheim to Xbox.

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Even in a year where the news cycle has been as dominated by layoffs in the games industry as 2023 has been, the scale at which Embracer Group has made cutbacks where its staff is concerned has taken many by surprise. The company instituted a restructuring plan earlier in the year after it failed to close a $2 billion deal with Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, recently confirming that that had led to about 900 Embracer employees being laid off.

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Star Wars: Knights of the Old – Republic has been caught in a vortex of behind-the-scenes drama ever since its announcement, with the project having been taken off developer Aspyr Media and handed over to Saber Interactive last year, along with being hit with an indefinite delay. Recently, journalist Jeff Grubb claimed, however, that development on the remake had stopped altogether, even at Saber, throwing into question whether the title will ever see the light of day.

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Speaking on the Game Mess Mornings podcast, industry insider Jeff Grubb claims the Knights of the Old Republic remake is «no longer being worked on right now.»

The planned remake is reportedly no longer in development, according to Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb in the latest episode of his Game Mess podcast.

The first and last official update we got on Star Wars: Knights of the Old – Republic was when it was announced a little over a couple of years ago. Last year, however, it was reported that the project had been indefinitely delayed and that developer Aspyr Media had been taken off the project, with subsequent reports claiming that Saber Interactive had stepped on to take the reins. However, it now seems the remake’s development has hit further roadblocks.

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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.

Payday 3 has been met with a fair bit of backlash due to its launch issues in recent weeks, while Embracer Grup – the parent company of Deep Silver, the shooter’s publisher – has also said that the game has performed below its expectations. However, at least where its initial sales are concerned, developer Starbreeze Studios doesn’t seem to agree.

Everybody's favourite bulk-buyer of studios and licenses Embracer Group have announced that they've laid off 900 people over the last three months, as per restructuring plans revealed this summer - around five percent of their total workforce.

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It’s been a brutal year for the games industry with widespread layoffs having hit a number of developers and publishers over the last several months, and Embracer Group has been one of several companies that have been impacted. After failing to close a deal with Saudia Arabia’s Savvy Games Group worth $2 billion, the company started a restructuring program earlier in 2023, and that has resulted in a significant reduction in its total workforce.

To say that Payday 3 didn’t get off to the best start would be a bit of an understatement. The long-awaited co-op shooter launched in September to widespread criticism from critics and audiences alike, catching flak for everything from its progression mechanics and lack of content to connectivity issues and more. That, unsurprisingly, has seen the game performing worse than Embracer Group – parent company of publisher Deep Silver – would have expected, in spite of having managed to attract 3.1 million players in September.

It was announced back in 2021 that TimeSplitters developer Free Radical Design had been re-established and that a revival of the sci-fi first person shooter IP had entered development, but it seems the project might be short-lived.

Resurrected TimeSplitters developers Free Radical Design could be the next Embracer-owned studio to be shuttered, according to recent reports. The rumoured closure comes just two years after the veteran British label were resurrected by their original founders to work on a new TimeSplitters game.

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Recent years have been dominated by mergers and acquisitions in the games industry, with the likes of Microsoft, Sony, EA, Take-Two Interactive, Embracer Group, and others having made a number of purchases to add to their internal portfolio of development studios. 2023 has, of course, seen some slowdown on that front, but with Microsoft’s massive $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard now finally having gone through after a drawn-out approval process, it seems like the next year will see increased activity once again.

 Embracer Group layoffs have hit animation studio Digic Pictures, which the company acquired in 2021. 

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?

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Remake appeared to be one of the bigger exclusives for PS5 when it was announced in 2021. However, rumors emerged of it being indefinitely on hold and Saber Interactive taking over development over Aspyr Media. It now seems that things could be more dire than initially thought, with the announcement trailer going private on YouTube.

In the aftermath of Embracer Group failing to close a deal with Savvy Group worth $2 billion earlier this year, the company has suffered some financial setbacks. In June, it revealed that it was instituting a restructuring program that would entail layoffs, studio closures, and upcoming projects being cancelled.

The Embracer Group has been struggling with financial issues in recent months, having failed to close an undisclosed deal worth $2 billion earlier in the year, in the wake of which the company announced that it would be shuttering studios, laying off employees, and cancelling unannounced games as part of a widespread restructuring program.

Borderlands developer Gearbox is reportedly up for sale by parent company Embracer Group. As per Reuters, the Swedish conglomerate is looking to restructure following a $2 billion (about Rs. 16,586 crore) deal with Saudi Arabia government-funded Savvy Games Group that fell through, earlier this year. The fallout resulted in the former cutting down on spending, in addition to closing down studios and laying off its employees. Having been acquired merely two-and-a-half years ago, Gearbox is now the latest victim, with some alleged third-party publishers expressing interest in acquiring the developer. No names were mentioned, though they were described as “international gaming groups.”

It’s recently emerged that Embracer Group is considering selling Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment, as the company looks to steady itself in a period of financial uncertainty following a failed $2 billion deal with Saudia Arabia’s gaming group earlier this year. However, other options for the studio’s future are being considered as well.

According to several new reports, both Gearbox Entertainment and Jagex may find themselves up for sale soon. Owners Embracer Group and the Carlyle Group, respectively, are potentially looking to offload the companies.

Embracer Group completed its acquisition of Borderlands developer Gearbox Entertainment in April 2021 in a deal worth up to $1.4 billion, though it seems the Swedish firm is already considering reversing course. In a report published by Reuters, it’s been claimed that the Embracer Group is considering several options for Gearbox Entertainment, with a full sale being one among them.

Embracer Group is considering options for The Gearbox Entertainment Company, including a sale, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Volition Games has shut down as part of Embracer Group’s ongoing restructuring. The studio, which has roots going back to 1993, is behind the Saint’s Row series, Red Faction, and Summoner.

Volition, the developer behind the Saints Row series, has shut down after 30 years, the studio announced.

Swedish gaming company Embracer Group has credited the franchise with playing a large part in the company’s improved fiscal first-quarter financials.