Canadian video game developer Eidos Montreal has confirmed that 97 employees from various departments were let go. As per the previous reports, the Embracer Group has also canceled its Deus Ex project as a result of ongoing cost-cutting attempts. On Monday, they posted on X, formerly Twitter, about letting go of people because of
the global economic context, the challenges of our industry, and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer.
As per a report from Bloomberg, an anonymous source said this canceled Deus Ex project was scheduled to get into full production this year; however, it is reported that Eidos Montreal will instead focus on an original franchise.
— Eidos-Montréal (@EidosMontreal) January 29, 2024
Not only this, the embracer group has recently been making many layoffs and game cancellations. Acquired by Embracer in 2022, the Deus Ex series is very loved and famous, having sold more than 14 million items worldwide. Notably, Embracer announced its downsizing plans last year, and they have restructured, laid off employees, and shut down various development teams and studios. As a result, the studio lost almost 20% of its staff and canceled this Deus Ex game, which has been in production for the last two years. The remaining staff will be focusing on developing an original game franchise.
The Swedish video game company, Embracer Group AB, had also closed TimeSplitters’ developer Free Radical Design and Saints Row developer Volition and has reportedly been looking to sell Borderlands developer Gearbox. The company laid off more than 900 employees in the second quarter of 2023. It includes layoffs at Crystal Dynamics and Beamdog, along with the layoffs at New World Interactive in December 2023. Other companies that have laid off their employees in 2024 are Microsoft, Unity, Riot, and Twitch, among others. Unfortunately, this list does not seem to end anytime soon.
