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Embracer Group Cancels ‘Deus Ex’ Video Game, Lays Off 97 Employees
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Papa_Wisdom
Member
Evil Calvin
Afraid of Boobs
Two years in pre-production and had yet to even enter production? Is that normal? I the Xbox 360 days you would get sequels in two years. Here they hadn't even started?
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
Have to disagree. They're too European. And again, I don't think they have the resources to "elevate" the franchise. I think that's what it needs for anyone to give it another shot.
Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
Let's just try and salvage this thread and move on please.Just out of curiosity how many people are on your ignore list?
BennyBlanco
aka IMurRIVAL69
Krappadizzle
Member
It's the truth. Immersive Sim is probably my favorite genre, but it just takes more work to get into than most people want to give. It's a shame, but they just don't sell as well as they should. Prey was the last big AAA immersive sim that I can remember that had a chance, and that one's marketing was all over. We are fortunate that there are some potentially great ImmSims coming from the AA space though, so there's that.
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FalsettoVibe
Member
Sure. MS definitely will keep everyone employed.
Pimpollo818
Member
yeah, rip
DeleteriousObnoxious
Member
This is really sad Adam Jensen deserves a conclusion. is it just me or is the industry actually trying to turn me off the official stuff and into Fan projects instead...
why even bother giving money to these pricks when they don't value the gaming media. i get its a business and all but how can creating low tier games and shitty quality made games make it profitable in the long run all it does is turn people away from gaming all together and well in my case less appealed to give my money further to said publishers.
That includes you Microsoft.
why even bother giving money to these pricks when they don't value the gaming media. i get its a business and all but how can creating low tier games and shitty quality made games make it profitable in the long run all it does is turn people away from gaming all together and well in my case less appealed to give my money further to said publishers.
That includes you Microsoft.
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Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Eidos Montreal was also co-developing Fable.
I think that's also fucked partially now and delayed. And likely this is one of the big reasons why it didn't appear in January's Direct with a 2024 release date.
I think that's also fucked partially now and delayed. And likely this is one of the big reasons why it didn't appear in January's Direct with a 2024 release date.
Mr Hyde
Member
If they cancel the new Tomb Raider that's in the pipeline I'll be fucking livid. But since it's Embracer we're talking about and they are literally self imploding in front of our eyes, chances are big that TR is fucked.
Madflavor
Member
I don’t fully understand this stuff but if Embracer goes under, I would hope they would auction off IPs like Tomb Raider. I don’t know if they can just go “We’re closing down. We’re also taking down every IP with us. Just cause.”
Ozzy Onya A2Z
Member
Me to those execs cancelling...
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SplunkyMunkey
Member
If Sony or Nintendo were smart they would swoop in a buy studios of embracer they probably get decent amount of studios then what ms paid for zenimax
Madflavor
Member
Sony buying Eidos and Crystal seems like a no brainer.
DeleteriousObnoxious
Member
Someone decent "not microsoft" should at least get Eidos Montreal that studio has a lot of great talent.
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
The problem is that they banked on external investments for funding.
In September they only had 500 million dollars of cash on hand and cash equivalents.
Assuming most of these AAA games cost at least 100 million dollars over say 6 years to be generous, that means that each of these games costs at least 16.7 million dollars per year.
With no revenue that means they'd be completely out of cash if they had as few as 30 games in development by September.
https://gamingbolt.com/embracer-group-plans-to-release-19-aaa-games-by-april-2026
We know that they had plans to release at least 19 games by April 2026, the article also confirms that they had 31 games in development, which essentially matches their cash on hand with the average cost I mentioned.
With small residual incomes and no major releases and other expenses, you can tell why they are frantically canceling games and laying off staff. They're trying to buy time. Dead Island 2 performed pretty well I think, but PayDay 3 I don't think performed as well.
They'll go under within the next 1.5 years unless something drastic happens.
In September they only had 500 million dollars of cash on hand and cash equivalents.
Assuming most of these AAA games cost at least 100 million dollars over say 6 years to be generous, that means that each of these games costs at least 16.7 million dollars per year.
With no revenue that means they'd be completely out of cash if they had as few as 30 games in development by September.
https://gamingbolt.com/embracer-group-plans-to-release-19-aaa-games-by-april-2026
We know that they had plans to release at least 19 games by April 2026, the article also confirms that they had 31 games in development, which essentially matches their cash on hand with the average cost I mentioned.
With small residual incomes and no major releases and other expenses, you can tell why they are frantically canceling games and laying off staff. They're trying to buy time. Dead Island 2 performed pretty well I think, but PayDay 3 I don't think performed as well.
They'll go under within the next 1.5 years unless something drastic happens.
Mr Hyde
Member
If Embracer goes bankrupt or are in a position of dire financial straits the IPs they own will most likely be auctioned off or sold to other publishers. In the case of Tomb Raider, the best thing for Crystal Dynamics would be to break free from Embracer along with the property (I don't think they would have any trouble acquiring it given their history with the franchise) and operate independently (or at least find another publisher that hasn't set itself on fire).
MALpractice311
Member
If I remember correctly, I think they were buying up lots of studios in order make a gigantic conglomerate that they could sell to the Saudis. They were basically wanting to be the video game equivalent of house flippers. Then COVID and the post-COVID tech/gaming crunch started happening.
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Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
How do you figure?
Both are extremely expensive studios which have underperformed.
From a cost-benefit perspective, it's MUCH cheaper and probably more effective to create your own studio and recruit for it and utilize your current tech stack than pay to buy a studio with a lot of overhead. Especially when you consider the layoffs happening in the industry.
It's been a decade since Crystal Dynamics last released a game that scored above an 80 on metacritic. it's been nearly a decade for Eidos Montreal too.
Sony might have to close one or two of their studios, why do they need studios that are no better than Bend Studios or Firesprite?
Buying them, you'd have to have a plan to reform them, but the reality is they don't have any strong IP either.
Woopah
Member
So so sad about this and Timesplitters.
The plan was that they'd be able to pay to upkeep all the studios by getting $2 billon from Saudi Arabia. But then Saudi Arabia pulled out.
The intentionally bit off way more than they can chew, to maximise their growth rate.
The plan was that they'd be able to pay to upkeep all the studios by getting $2 billon from Saudi Arabia. But then Saudi Arabia pulled out.
CamHostage
Member
Kind of, but they weren't "flipping" to the Sauidis, the company would have still existed and continued on its path, they were just trying to puff up and seduce investments.
It's more like a dorky kid who decides to become a big timer, so they buy the cool clothes and they do nice things for the hot girls and they get a fancy car and rent out a swanky space and go, "Hey, I'm throwing a party and you're all invited!!"... but then nobody showed up because they know the kid is still isn't cool (and also, all the cool kids got mono.)
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ChorizoPicozo
Member
"consolidation is good for devs and consumers"
Dazraell
Member
That one feels safe as Amazon is payrolling and publishing it. So I don't think you have to worry about it
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
They paid Covid prices for these studios and they’re paying Covid prices for payroll for all of these games.
Some games are still doing really well but if your game gets lost in the sauce you end up eating the development costs and marketing costs.
The reality is their games don’t have the quality to separate themselves and as a result it doesn’t make sense to invest in them.
An absolute disaster in the making and a preview of what is to come with ABK and Microsoft, which is why Microsoft is already trying to head that reality off by shedding staff and going multiplatform.
Xbox exclusivity even for non COD games would destroy the operating income of ABK which is quite large. 17,000 employees…
Quick way to destroy the value of a 70 billion dollar asset.
xrnzaaas
Member
For fuck's sake, Embracer has lost so much goodwill in only a year or so. I was excited when the Deus Ex IP was picked up with a promise that a new game may enter development.
I'm curious what they'll do with Tomb Raider. The game's gonna cost a ton of money to make, no way then can turn into AA/AA+ game with a mediocre budget.
I'm curious what they'll do with Tomb Raider. The game's gonna cost a ton of money to make, no way then can turn into AA/AA+ game with a mediocre budget.
Madflavor
Member
“Extremely” expensive is total hyperbole. If Crystal Dynamics is an extremely expensive studio to buy, what does that make Activision Blizzard? Super extremely? Hyper Extremely: Turbo Edition? We also don’t even know what sort of a deal Sony would get if this were to ever happen.
Rise of the Tomb Raider came out 9 years ago, scored 86 on MC, sold 12 million copies to date. Mankind Divided came out 7 years ago and got an 84. Tomb Raider is a strong enough IP that did pretty well with its last trilogy, which is their highest sold games to date. It’s a strong enough IP, and a very recognizable one too. So it hasn’t been a decade. Even the less well received Shadow of the Tomb Raider managed to eventually climb to 8 million sales.
Saying CD is no better than Bend Studios seems weird, considering Tomb Raider outsold and got higher scores than Days Gone. I don’t know man, these arguments you gave me are pretty weak.
Good point but oof. I don’t know how I’d feel about Amazon owning the right to Tomb Raider games.
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Dazraell
Member
To my understanding they're licencing the brand while Embracer still holds the full rights to Tomb Raider franchise. Either way, Amazon seems to have large plans with this as they will not only publish the next game, but are also working on the movie and TV series
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Back in the day, if a company really wanted to they could crank out game fast. M&M PC RPGs as follows. Good games too. They needed some time to transition to s 3D engine later in the 90s, but still cranked them out. Never played M&M X though.
Game companies have to realize you dont have to reinvent the wheel every game or sequel. Just look at all the annual CODs, sports, and at one time Assassin's Creed and NFS games were annual.
Main series
Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum (1986; Apple II, Mac, MS-DOS, Commodore 64, NES, MSX, PC-Engine CD-ROM²)
Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World (1988; Apple II, Amiga, MS-DOS, Commodore 64, Mac, Genesis, Super NES (Europe only), Super Famicom (Japan-only, different from the European Super NES version), MSX)
Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra (1991; MS-DOS, Mac, Amiga, Super NES, Genesis (prototype), Sega CD, PC-Engine Super CD-ROM²)
Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen (1992; MS-DOS, Mac)
Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen (1993; MS-DOS, Mac)
Might and Magic: World of Xeen (1994; MS-DOS, Mac)
Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven (1998; Windows)
Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor (1999; Windows)
Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer (2000; Windows)
Might and Magic IX: Writ of Fate (2002; Windows)
Might & Magic X: Legacy (2014; Windows, OS X)
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fart town usa
Member
It seems like Embracer is really hoping for great success with the AITD reboot. That game was delayed 5 months while other studios have been shut down, projects cancelled, etc. Technically it's THQ Nordic but i assume Embracer is green lighting these delays.