It seems that Embracer Group, the company that spent a lot of time buying out various companies across TV, comic books, and video games including Gearbox and Middle-earth Enterprises, is now done snapping up smaller companies – at least for the time being. According to a letter posted on the company website by its CEO, Embracer is now restructuring to become “a leaner, stronger and a more focused, self-sufficient company”.
That’s more or less a fancy way of saying they’re done the mergers and acquisitions phase and will now begin cutting costs. People are being laid off. At present, the number of people being let go hasn’t been specified, nor has which companies these changes will impact. Although the letter does note that the company currently “engages” around 17,000 people.
These layoffs will probably not all happen at once either. In the letter, the CEO outlines the phases of their plan. These are intended to take place over a period lasting until March 2024. There are three phases in all, two of which start now and seem to be more assessment. The last phase will “focus on internal consolidation, further resource utilization, and more synergies”. Basically, it seems like employees have a bit of time – and some warning – before they start letting people go.
It’s not great news for plans of employed game developers, but it’s also not anything we’re not familiar with. After all, we’ve been watching EA and Activision do this for years.
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