It looks like every division of The Embracer Group will be part of its sweeping restructuring plans following the gaming giant’s recent financial woes. Crystal Dynamics announced earlier today that it is letting go of employees as part of the current layoff wave hitting the embattled Swedish video game publisher.
According to a post on X (formerly Twitter), Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics is parting with 10 employees. Nine of the affected employees are from the Brand/Marketing division while one staff member is from IT. The layoffs come months after the studio said that it would not be part of the job cuts.
“Crystal Dynamics made the difficult decision to part ways with 9 Brand/Marketing and 1 IT employee today due to an internal restructuring to align the studio with our current business needs,” the company announced. “We are working directly with the affected staff to fully support them. If you have applicable positions open at your studio across Brand Direction, Creative Services, Community, or IT, please pass them along to [email protected] and we will ensure the information ends up in the right hands.”
Crystal Dynamics made the difficult decision to part ways with 9 Brand/Marketing and 1 IT employee today due to an internal restructuring to align the studio with our current business needs. We are working directly with the affected staff to fully support them.
— Crystal Dynamics (@CrystalDynamics) September 20, 2023
Several employees from the studio confirmed the layoffs on social media. The scope of the redundancies remains uncertain at this point, but it is clear that the Brand and Marketing team was at the short end of the stick.
Senior brand manager Nick Edwards writes: “Sadly the Embracer layoffs keep coming and I and a number of talented brand/marketing folks at Crystal are impacted.” He goes on to list roles that he and other affected colleagues could potentially fill.
https://twitter.com/nkedwards/status/1704572412225012122
Senior community and social manager Neha Nair shared on X that she is part of the layoffs. “There isn’t an easy way to say this so I’ll just rip the bandaid off because while I’m still processing, life unfortunately does not pause… After 3.5 years at [Crystal Dynamics], I was laid off today.”
There isn't an easy way to say this so I'll just rip the bandaid off because while I'm still processing, life unfortunately does not pause…
After 3.5 years at @CrystalDynamics, I was laid off today. I'd appreciate any Sr. level Community & Social Media positions in gaming. pic.twitter.com/yb7T9URJ0E
— Neha [Rinny ♡] (@Rinoaaa) September 20, 2023
Crystal Dynamics was acquired by the Embracer Group from Square Enix in 2022 for $300 million. A number of IPs were part of the deal including Tomb Raider. The studio was just one of several high-profile purchases by Embracer last year as it went on an acquisition spree.
However, things went south earlier this year as a $2 billion deal with an undisclosed partner failed to materialize. It was later revealed that Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group was Embracer’s partner in the collapsed deal.
As a result, Embracer announced that it would be restructuring the company. Saints Row developer Volition was shut down along with Campfire Cabal. The company also considered selling Gearbox Studios.
At this point it is unclear how many more employees from Embracer Group would be affected by the layoffs. Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors recently said that “Embracer currently engages close to 17,000 people and while that number will be lower by the end of the year, it is too early to give an exact forecast on this.”
