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Gearbox and Crystal Dynamics owner Embracer report 900 layoffs during “one of our strongest quarters for new releases ever"CEO discusses performance of Remnant 2 and Payday 3
CEO discusses performance of Remnant 2 and Payday 3
Image credit:Embracer
Image credit:Embracer
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 perrestructuring plans revealed this summer- around five percent of their total workforce.
Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors commented in the report that “over the past two years, our internally developed games have had [a return-on-investment] over twice as high compared to externally developed games”. Even in the wake of Embracer’s restructuring, he went on, the company “will still be investing more than the value of our released games, laying the foundation for future organic growth in the PC/Console Games segment”.
Wingefors had a bit to say about the fortunes of specific Embracer releases, spanning internal and external development studios and publishers. Apparently, Gunfire and Gearbox’s fantasy procedural Gears of roguelikeRemnant 2has done rather well, selling over two million copies. Starbreeze’s heistshooterPayday 3has “seen a mixed reception and performance”, which is no surprise given that game’stechnical issues at launch. Embracer expects it to be a financial success eventually, but “below management expectations”.
Wingefors also hailed the “successful release” ofDead Island 2,Risk of RainReturns,Teardownon console, a new update forSatisfactory, and Remnant 2’s Awakened King DLC, though the report doesn’t go into detail. There’s a lot more inthe full thingabout the state of affairs across mobile, table-top and Embracer’s wider entertainment operations, if you’re curious.
Embracer’s restructuring has seen the companyshutter Saints Row developer Volitionand lay off staff atMythforce developer BeamdogandStar Trek Online developer Cryptic. The company are reportedly on the verge ofclosing Timesplitters developer Free Radical, and arelooking into selling Gearbox. Embracer’s earnings report doesn’t confirm this latter claim, but does mention that the company are thinking about divestment and that there has been “notable inbound interest” in Embracer’s assets.
All this follows a massive acquisition spree over 2019 to 2022 that saw Embracer scooping up studiosfromallover. Embracer were apparently on the verge of signing an investment deal worth $2 billion with Savvy Games Group early this year; according toAxios, the collapse of that deal is the principle reason for this summer’s mammoth job cuts.
Embracer alsolaunched a game preservation archive in 2022, which feels a bit much given that their overall contribution to the industry seems to be buying up vast swathes of it and throwing everything away. Best of luck to all the Embracer staff who have lost their jobs this year.
Update: I’ve tweaked the headline to make it clearer that Embracer are reporting layoffs that have occurred in the course of the previously announced restructuring process, rather than that they’re revealing new layoffs today.
