The early months of 2023 saw Embracer Group failing to close a $2 billion deal with Saudia Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, following which the company initiated a restructuring program that would entail layoffs, project cancellations, and studio closures. Sadly, Embracer Group’s continued efforts to stabilize its financial situation have come at the cost of staggering number of company-wide cuts, and that’s something that’s continued into the new year.
Lost Boys Interactive, a studio owned by Embracer-owned Gearbox Entertainment, is the latest studio under the company’s ownership to suffer layoffs. A number of former employees who were affected by the job cuts confirmed the news on social media. While the exact scale of the layoffs is currently unknown, former producer Jared Pace wrote on LinkedIn that “a sizable portion” of the studio had been let go, and confirmed to Aftermath that the layoffs had “affected all disciplines at all levels”.
Lost Boys Interactive was founded in 2017 and acquired by Gearbox in 2022, and prior to this round of layoffs, employed over 400 developers. The studio has functioned as co-developer and provided development support on a number of major releases in recent years, including the likes of Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, Diablo 4, and more.
Amidst its restructuring program, Embracer Group has reportedly also put Gearbox Entertainment itself up for sale, while studios like Saints Row developer Volition and TimeSplitters developer Free Radical Design have been shuttered entirely. Additionally, the likes of Crystal Dynamics, New World Interactive, 3D Realms, Slipgate Ironworks, and Fishlabs have suffered layoffs as well.
No part of the games industry has been immune to the devastating wave of layoffs that continued all throughout 2023, with the likes of Epic Games, Microsoft, Bungie, and many others having made significant cuts. Sadly, that trend has continued in 2024 as well. Recently, for instance, game engine developer Unity announced that it was laying off quarter of its entire workforce, amounting to roughly 1,800 jobs.