Spotted by Twitter user Timur222 and reported by Game World Observer it appears that the latest to be affected by layoffs within Embracer Group and the video game industry in general are Cryptic Studios and Zen Studios.
The news has come as a result of multiple employees within the studios updating their Linkedin profiles to seek new employment opportunities. Because of this, it’s unknown just how many are affected by these layoffs, which appear to have happened last week, and Embracer has not released a statement to clarify.
Cryptic Studios rose to prominence with the development of City of Heroes (my favorite MMO) and continues to maintain Champions Online, Star Trek Online, and Neverwinter. Meanwhile, Zen Studios is the developer behind the Zen Pinball and Pinball FX series.
The layoffs are part of a continued cost-cutting campaign by Embracer Group. The company had previously launched an aggressive acquisition campaign and bought out a number of developers, large and small. This seems to be related to a $2 Billion dollar investment that reportedly fell through earlier in the year.
Embracer isn’t the only one conducting layoffs. This year has been horrible when it comes to people losing their jobs, not just in the video game industry but the tech industry in general. The list is a bit long, and it’s really depressing, so I’m just going to copy what Destructoid’s own Eric “Boulder Puncher” Van Allen wrote previously:
“A brief list includes Epic Games, Striking Distance Studios, CD Projekt Red, multiple studios owned by Embracer Group including Beamdog and Crystal Dynamics, Ubisoft, BioWare, Relic, Riot, Firaxis, and Microsoft. Plus reports of more at Twitch, Naughty Dog, and Team17. On top of all that, there was also the shutdown of Dang!, PixelOpus, Vanpool, and Volition Games.”
