Embracer Group has cancelled a Deus Ex game that was in development at Canadian developer Eidos Montreal.
According to Bloomberg, the untitled game had been in development for two years, and now, Eidos Montreal will shift towards a new IP. On top of the cancellation, Embracer has laid off 97 people at the studio in various development, administration and support services roles. As of 2022, Eidos Montreal had close to 500 employees.
In a statement published on its official X (formerly Twitter) account, Eidos Montreal attributed the layoffs to “the global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer.”
— Eidos-Montréal (@EidosMontreal) January 29, 2024
During the pandemic, Embracer rapidly expanded by spending billions to acquire numerous studios, franchises and even the IP rights to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. However, it later failed to secure a multi-billion-dollar investment, and it would soon go on a cost-cutting spree that included layoffs at Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider) and Edmonton-based Beamdog (Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition) and the outright closures of veteran Saints Row developer Volition and Montreal-based Onoma (formerly Square Enix Montreal, the team behind Lara Croft Go.)
When Embracer acquired Eidos Montreal in 2022 from Square Enix as part of a larger purchase of much of the Japanese gaming company’s catalogue, there was hope that the Canadian developer would be able to continue with Deus Ex. The studio’s last Deus Ex game, 2016’s Mankind Divided, ended on a cliffhanger that begged for a follow-up. However, Eidos Montreal would later shift to leading development on 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, assist in the making of 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers and fully produce 2021’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.
Now, nearly 100 developers have to worry about finding new jobs, let alone making another game. While Quebec is one of the top five largest hubs for game development in the world, the industry as a whole has been grappling with significant overturns in the past year.
In 2023, more than 10,000 game developers were laid off, including those at PlayStation’s Bungie, Xbox’s Coalition, Epic Games, EA’s BioWare Edmonton and Amazon’s Twitch. On top of that, more than 5,000 game makers game maker Rami Ismail have already lost their jobs just this month, including 1,900 at Xbox.
Image credit: Eidos Montreal
Source: Bloomberg, Embracer Group
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
