Crystal Dynamics is also a victim of Embracer Group’s restructuring: the Tomb Raider and Perfect Dark studio has laid off 10% of its staff.
Embracer Group is once again in the news for its drastic restructuring, which after a series of economic failures, has been forced to lay off 900 workers in the last quarter (and more will come).
The information is almost the same as last week, with an update from Gamereactor: Crystal Dynamics, one of the most prominent studios of this Swedish holding company, has laid off 10% of the workforce.
Crystal Dynamics were bought by Embracer when Square Enix sold them (along with Eidos Montreal and Square Enix Montréal, which closed months later).
After the failure of Marvel’s Avengers that Square Enix ate, Crystal Dynamics sought to return to its best asset with Embracer: tomb Raiderthe result of a million-dollar agreement with Amazon Games.
But Crystal Dynamics was also working on Perfect Dark with The Initiative. Two very ambitious AAA games from a studio that has also suffered cuts from Embracer. Is there anything to worry about?
Crystal Dynamics also bleeds under Embracer Group
Last June, when the first news of the Embracer Group crisis emerged, Crystal Dynamics issued a statement thanking fans for their concern, and remembering that these changes have not affected the development of Perfect Dark with The Initiative or Tomb Raider with Amazon Games.
This statement was probably written when those layoffs occurred, a study that employed 273 people in 2022.
In recent months, Embracer Group has been making a lot of cuts in studios, some even closing, like Volition, which hit it with Saints Row, and it is rumored that they could also end Free Radical Design, after games like Payday 3 did not meet Embracer’s expectations.
Embracer at least has the support of Amazon Games in the case of its reboot of tomb Raiderwhich aims to inaugurate a new stage in the franchise with multimedia products (series, movies…).
