Embracer has confirmed that layoffs are ongoing at Insurgency: Sandstorm developer New World Interactive.
As reported by GameIndustry.Biz, New World Interactive is not being shut down, but is undergoing restructuring. The studio gave this statement:
“This reorganisation has unfortunately resulted in layoffs at the studio.
We are working to fill existing open roles within Saber with individuals affected by these changes wherever feasible and we will be providing severance packages to those employees impacted.”
New World Interactive was founded in 2010, by a Canadian army veteran, Andrew Spearin, and Jeremy Blum, formerly from Red Orchestra developer Tripwire Interactive. Spearin started work on a Source Engine total conversion mod called Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat.
Spearin drew from his experiences as a veteran to make Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat a realistic simulation of combat between the US Marines and rebel insurgents. Blum and some of his other former co-workers at Tripwire would join Spearin, to help make Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combata success when it released in 2007.
Of course, New World Interactive was founded for the purpose of capitalizing on Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat’s success, and get them started as proper game developers. Their 2014 release of Insurgency put the studio on the map.
Insurgency: Sandstorm was their latest release, from 2018, and came before the studio was acquired by Saber Interactive, itself already a part of Embracer, in 2020. While they had not announced these titles, New World put out job openings in 2019 for what was potentially a looter shooter, and a separate game, that would be a cover-based shooter.
Since Saber itself acquired New World, it’s also the Saber arm of Embracer that is trying to save employee jobs by placing them in other positions in the company. The way Saber describes the situation suggests that they will not be able to retain everyone.
And that is the latest of Embracer’s latest round of unnecessary layoffs. While these game studios were excited at the prospect of falling under a larger company, that they expected to fund them and keep them secure, they all had to face an unexpected but crushing reality.
And that reality was that this bigger game company was hedging a giant bet that it would sustain itself. Along the way, this company put the security and longevity of the studios they acquired on the line. While no one can predict how businesses work out in the future, this was clearly a case where they would have been better off if they weren’t acquired, even if they were not going to get any bigger.
Given how many companies Embracer acquired, this is likely still not the last news we will be reporting regarding their required layoffs and restructuring, so that they can stay feasible as a company.
