More layoffs have occurred at Embracer-owned subsidiaries, this time at Crystal Dynamics. Various staff have confirmed their departures on LinkedIn, explaining that they were informed of the cuts this morning.
“Sadly I’m one of a number of people impacted by the latest round of Embracer layoffs that have now hit Crystal Dynamics this morning,” wrote ex-senior brand manager Nicholas Edwards. He added that affected departments include project management, PR, editing, and 2D art.
The layoffs at Crystal Dynamics follow similar reductions at Beamdog (Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition) earlier in the week and Rainbow Studios (MX vs. ATV) earlier in the month. Embracer has restructured and closed several studios it bought up in recent years following the dissolution of a deal with Savvy Games said to have been worth $2 billion.
Last year, Embracer bought the Tomb Raider studio as part of a package deal alongside Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex) and Square Enix Montreal (later renamed Onoma shortly before its closure). Crystal Dynamics later affirmed that it would begin to make more Tomb Raider games, with the first to be published by Amazon Games.
After co-developing Shadow of the Tomb Raider with Eidos Montreal, Crystal Dynamics released 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers, which will lose support (but not go offline) at the end of September. It’s also currently co-developing the struggling Perfect Dark reboot with The Initiative.
Game Developer has reached out to Crystal Dynamics for comment and will update this story when a response is given.