![[Update] Report: Embracer Cancels Deus Ex Game and Lays Off Staff at Eidos Montreal](/articles_media/images/report-embracer-cancels-deus-ex-game-and-lays-off-staff-at-eidos-montreal-921569_expanded.jpg)
[Update] Report: Embracer Cancels Deus Ex Game and Lays Off Staff at Eidos Montreal - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 February 2024 / 6,788 Views
Update:
Eidos Montreal has confirmed 97 people have been laid off at the studio.
"For the last 17 years, our teams at Eidos have worked on some of the most beloved brands in the industry, combining deep storytelling and innovation into unique games," said Eidos Montreal. "We have created memorable multi awarded experiences that we are proud of and we know our teams members have put their heart and soul in all of them.
"The global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer have finally impacted our studio. The difficult decision has been made to let go 97 people from development teams, administration, and support services.
"We are working to support all impacted personnel through this transition. These very talented, highly experienced people are entering the employment market, and we want them to find their next projects and are helping to do so.
"As we navigate these difficult times, the well-being of our team is our priority and the continuous commitment to creating games that players will be able to enjoy in the nearby future.
"To our players… it’s often times not just the games but the game makers as well that we all celebrate and admire. Our commitment is always to making the best games for our amazing fans and even with this restructuring change, we continue to fight on to deliver those awesome experiences for us to share together. Thank you for your continuing support and well wishes."
Original article:
Embracer Group has cancelled an unannounced Deus Ex video game that has been in development for two years, according to people familiar with matters who spoke with Bloomberg.
The sources claim Eidos Montreal has also been hit with layoffs, however, the number of people let go isn't known. This is part of Embracer's ongoing work to cut costs.
The unannounced Deus Ex game was set to enter production later this year.
The Deus Ex franchise has sold over 14 million units worldwide since the first entry released in 2000. The last mainline entry, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, released in 2016 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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FUCK YOU EMBRACER!
I never asked for this.....
F*ck Embracer Group.
Embracer can rot in hell.
Fools! It would have been the missing game between Mankind Divided and the first game from 2000. Fuck Embracer!
You'd think regulators would've wondered how a seemingly out of nowhere company suddenly has a ton of capital to start acquiring dozens of studios and never thought to ask what kind of debts they would be incurring with these transactions and whether or not they'd be able to continue to pay them. This is unbelievable! Embracer is going down and they're taking all these studios down with them......
Actually really pissed off at this news, I remember being happy for Eidos-Montreal when they got out of that Square Enix mess but somehow this Embracer bullshit is ten times worse, one of the best developers out there is being reduced to nothing..
Remember when people cheered over Embracer buying these IPs off of Square Enix? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Remember when other people said that Embracer was a financially shaky company that would implode within 3-5 years? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
wanted a new deus ex game
Apparently they hedged all their bets on Saudi money, hence all the acquisitions they had made. That money never came, assholes.
"That money never came"... What da hell are you on lol
That is pretty much what happened isn't it? Embracer kept borrowing more and more money to acquire more and more studios, without ever taking a break to see if the studios they had already acquired could release hits big enough to cover all of that money they were borrowing. Then when they realized they were failing and heading for bankruptcy, they tried to make a deal with Saudi Arabia's gaming fund (Savvy Games Group) to get an investment to pay back all $2b of the debt they had left to pay back. Then the Saudi Arabian $2b investment fell through and they were left with no option to stave off bankruptcy other than to start closing and selling studios and instituting layoffs, in order to cut down on their payroll expenditure.
So far they have divested 2 studios, closed 4 studios, and laid off over 5% of their workforce (1000+ people), which has helped reduce their debt from $2b to $1.5b. More layoffs and studio closures or divestitures are likely to happen until they get that remaining $1.5b debt paid off.
But that came after they were failing. Savvy Games Group did not promise anything in the first place that put them in the situation there were (are); that money would have just been an really lucky way to get out of their own troubles.
My point is that this is not really related to anything that happened to Embracers, their own management was (is) the issue. Let's not put the fault on Saudi Arabia's gaming Group, at least not for this one :D
Ah, I see what you are saying. Yeah, Embracer definitely brought this on themselves, I agree with you fully there. Yes, Saudi Arabia screwed them over when they backed out of the $2b investment deal at the last minute, but Embracer would never have needed that $2b if they had acted responsibly and only acquired successful studios with successful games, instead of spending willy nilly and acquiring like 100+ studios in 6 years.
My best friend works at Eidos Montréal. It’s near 100 people that has been fired because of Embracer. His boss was crying while announcing the layoffs.
Better than kings - GUARDS!
I no longer wish to live
Big mistake. Yeah they were in trouble but they still had two choices…
- Fire people, end development, lock IP in a cupboard
-
Sell studio and IP
They chose option 1…..so end up with nothing and so did we the public who love the franchise.
Thanks Embracer. I hope other games companies learn from your mistakes.
Embracer sucks and I hope their pyramid scheme of a company gets liquidated soon.
Hm...I remember when they were still Nordic, and then THQ Nordic, and just started acquiring some smaller studios, that I thought that they might be onto something - maybe going for making themselves the best A/AA publisher out there. But then they went berserk and started acquiring more than they can chew, and it was pretty much inevitable that this would happen.
Funny thing is, in their shopping frenzy, they bought one of two largest board game publishers, Asmodee, for some 3 billion $ - I always wondered where they're getting that amount of money, though, long term, that might be their best investment.
Very bad news.
