The video game-themed company Embracer Group has continued its long, long period of restructuring into the new year. Today, one of their many game development studios, Lost Boys Interactive, got hit with what was described as "massive" layoffs by one of the team members that were affected.
Aftermath was the first to report on the layoffs, as a number of now-former Lost Boys Interactive team members revealed their job cuts on social media. The studio"s official website stated that it had over 400 employees. It"s not clear exactly how many of those 400 team members were cut.
Lost Boys Interactive was formed in 2017, and was acquired by Embracer Group, via its Gearbox Software division, in 2022. The studio has provided content for a number of different games and publishers, including Gearbox"s own Tiny Tina"s Wonderland and Blizzard"s Diablo IV.
This is just the latest in a series of deep employee cuts and studio shutdowns that Embracer Group has made after a proposed deal with a Saudi Arabia-based investment group called Savvy Games Group for $2 billion in 2023 was canceled at the last minute. At the time, Embracer had about 17,000 employees.
In June 2023, Embracer announced a restructuring that would result in deep cuts to its organization. They included the full closure of studios like Saints Row developer Volition, along with a canceled revival of Free Radical Design, well before it was supposed to launch a new game in the Timesplitters first-person shooter series. Other Embracer-owned studios that got hit with big layoffs in 2023, but have not yet been closed, include 3D Realms, Beamdog, and Crystal Dynamics.
Back in June, Embracer stated its restructuring period would continue through March 2024. That means we could see further layoffs and studio closing before this is all over. Besides its game studios, Embracer also owns Dark Horse Comics and Middle-earth Enterprises, which owns certain rights to license content from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.