Eidos Montreal hit with more layoffs, project cancellations

Embracer Group has laid off more staff at its Eidos Montreal subsidiary.

As first reported by Insider Gaming, at least a dozen employees of the Canadian developer have recently been let go. A number of those affected have since confirmed their departures on LinkedIn. Notably, this comes after Embracer cut roughly 75 staffers earlier this year, and nearly 100 last year alongside the cancellation of a Deus Ex game.

But it doesn’t stop there. Insider Gaming reports that most projects at Eidos Montreal have been cancelled, with the priority shifting to supporting Xbox’s Obsidian and Playground Games on the development of Grounded 2 (which launched earlier this year in early access) and next year’s Fable reboot. The only other game that’s mentioned is an internal project that started development way back in 2019 and, as a result, isn’t expected to recoup its costs. Making things worse is the fact that Insider Gaming reports that further layoffs are expected once work has wrapped on the Xbox games.

This is the latest in a seemingly never-ending lineup of unfortunate developments for Eidos Montreal. The Canadian developer was originally founded in 2007 by the now-defunct Eidos Interactive, which was once a subsidiary of Square Enix. Over the years, the studio has made a name for itself for acclaimed story-driven experiences like 2011’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution, 2016’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and 2021’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. It also assisted Tomb Raider studio Crystal Dynamics on multiple Lara Croft adventures and 2020’s Marvel’s Avengers, as well as leading development on 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

Clearly, then, the developer is capable of consistently making quality games, but it’s rarely gotten the publisher support it deserves. As Eidos Montreal founder Stephane D’Astous previously said, Square Enix, a Japanese company best known for games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, didn’t know how to properly manage Western teams like Eidos. This ultimately led it to sell most of its Western outfit, including Eidos Montreal, to Embracer in 2022.

Since then, Embracer has continued to cut Eidos Montreal to the bone with waves of layoffs and project cancellations. Last year’s axing of the Deus Ex game was a particular blow to fans, who had been waiting since 2016’s Mankind Divided (which left many story threads dangling) for a follow-up. Prominent Canadian voice actor Elias Toufexis, the voice of Deus Ex star Adam Jensen, even penned a heartfelt tribute to Eidos Montreal and its fans last year amid the news after years of advocating for another game.

What makes this news especially upsetting is the fact that Embracer is a massive company that acquired a slew of studios over just a few years, snatching up everything from Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics to even the rights for The Lord of the Rings. And yet, it’s continued to mishandle its portfolio, from closing veteran studios like Saints Row developer Volition and Time Splitters maker Free Radical Design to laying off thousands of other employees at teams like Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics.

Embracer has previously blamed some of these cuts on a $2 billion deal falling through, but that only further highlights the corporate incompetence by former CEO Lars Wingefors and co. on display here. Maybe don’t go on a giant spending spree if you don’t actually have the capital to back it up?

All of that is to say our hearts are with the fine folks at Eidos (not to mention the other Embracer teams) who have deserved so much more than all of this nonsense.

Image credit: Eidos Montreal

Source: Insider Gaming