Developer Crystal Dynamics has announced a new round of lay-offs affecting the studio. The announcement was made through a post on LinkedIn, where the studio didn’t reveal how many of its employees were affected by the lay-offs. In its announcement, the studio said that the decision was made “to ensure the long-term health” of the studio.
“Today we made the very difficult decision to part ways with a number of our talented colleagues as the result of evolving business conditions. This decision was not made lightly,” wrote the studio in its announcement. “It was necessary, however, to ensure the long-term health of our studio and core creative priorities in a continually shifting market.”
“To those impacted – we recognize and thank you for your hard work, talent, and passion. We are committed to offering the full extent of support and resources at our disposal during this transition.”
Crystal Dynamics did mention that the lay-offs have not affected the development of its next project in the Tomb Raider franchise.
“To our teams, players, and partners, thank you for your continued support as we build a creative, sustainable, and resilient tomorrow together,” it wrote. “This includes the future of Tomb Raider, which remains unaffected by this decision.”
The announcement comes a bit after Microsoft cancelled Perfect Dark, which Crystal Dynamics was working on alongside The Initiative. The title was just one of many projects cancelled by Microsoft in the wake of major lay-offs affecting the company last month. Along with Perfect Dark, Rare’s Everwild was also among the cancelled projects.
This newest round of lay-offs at Crystal Dynamics follows another round from back in March, where the studio had announced that it was letting go of 17 of its employees. It is unknown how these rounds of lay-offs have affected various projects that Crystal Dynamics has been working on.
As for Tomb Raider, the studio had revealed back in September 2024 that it was recruiting new developers for the projects. At the time, the studio was looking for a Senior Franchise Artist, who would “visual guidance to external teams developing content under the Tomb Raider brand umbrella”.
Confirmation of a new Tomb Raider being in the works first came about all the way back in 2022. The studio had also announced at the time that it was developing the title by using Unreal Engine 5. No other details about this project have been revealed so far, however. Crystal Dynamics has also not confirmed whether this new project will be a follow-up to 20018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider or if it will yet another reboot for the series.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was the third game of the series reboot, which had started all the way back in 2013 with a game simply titled Tomb Raider. The series also included 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, with all three titles focusing on protagonist Lara Croft’s first few adventures as she would slowly become the iconic character from the previous games in both skill and reputation.
Crystal Dynamics has also previously worked on other projects, including Marvel’s Avengers.