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Embracer Group is seeking outside funding to avoid more layoffs

More layoffs and closures could be coming to Embracer Group subsidiaries should the company fail to find funding for projects.

Donovan Erskine

September 21, 2023 12:45 PM

Fredrik Sandberg

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It’s been an incredibly rough stretch of months for studios owned by Embracer Group, as downsizing and restructuring has left many workers without a job, and led to the full closure of one of its studios. While addressing investors, the company indicated that this might not be the end of that restructuring either. Embracer Group is currently seeking outside funding for some of its projects, and the failure to do so would result in more people being laid off and more studios closing down.

The news comes from Embracer Group’s Annual General Meeting. Axios’ Stephen Totilo tweeted out a few tidbits from the report, including some words from Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors. Of the many projects currently in the works at Embracer studios, the parent company will need to seek outside funding in order to keep some of them alive and avoid further layoffs. "Ultimately we are making decisions to either restructure or downsize some teams and there will be a few cases of closures."

They’re tough words to hear considering how things have been going at the company in recent months. Since Embracer announced restructuring plans, it has laid off employees at Crystal Dynamics, closed Volition entirely, and is reportedly looking to sell Gearbox Entertainment. On the topic of divesting studios, Wingefors stated that “there is a strong vibrant market with many, many active players--both financial sponsors and big industry players--but it’s easier to run proper processes for, I would say, more high-value assets than smaller assets.”

This all traces back to a $2 billion dollar deal that fell apart at the final moment between Embracer and Savvy Gaming. We’ll continue to follow this story and will share timely updates on Embracer Group and its subsidiaries.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_