Embracer Group has quite a few studios under its label. The company is now seemingly in a bind, ranging from various acquisitions and mergers. Financial struggles could be a real issue. In fact, it wasn’t long ago now that we had word of Volition Games shutting down completely. While Embracer Group is striving to restructure its plans going forward, a new round of layoffs has just occurred for another studio under their control. The latest was Crystal Dynamics, who were forced to see several jobs get cut.
Crystal Dynamics should probably be a familiar name. The company was founded back in 1992 and has worked on several franchises, including Gex, Legacy of Kain, and Tomb Raider. In fact, we know that the studio is currently working on two projects. For starters, we know that they are aiding Microsoft’s The Initiative. If you recall, this brand-new studio was formed and working on a reboot of the Perfect Dark series. We haven’t seen this game in quite some time now. However, it’s still in development, with Crystal Dynamics aiding the development team.
Meanwhile, we know that Crystal Dynamics is working on a new Tomb Raider game. Details are scarce right now about what this new Tomb Raider game will provide, but we know that the publisher behind the project is Amazon Games. Despite their efforts on a couple of projects, it looks like ten employees were forced to part ways from the development studio. The official Crystal Dynamics X account noted that these employees were dropped from the studio to align with the internal restructuring plans. Furthermore, they are striving to ensure that these individuals manage to find a new position at another studio.
We’re not sure if there are more studios to see layoffs. Again, Embracer Group has been making moves lately with the complete shutdown of Volition Games and now the removal of several jobs from Crystal Dynamics. There was even a rumor circulating online that Embracer Group was interested in selling off Gearbox, the studio best known for the Borderlands franchise. For now, we’ll just have to wait and monitor what may come next from the Embracer Group line of studios. Likewise, we’ll have to wait and see when we’ll get more details on the projects Crystal Dynamics is working on, as Perfect Dark and the untitled Tomb Raider project remain a mystery as to when players can get their hands on the games.
