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Embracer Group laid off nearly 1,400 between July & December 2023

The company claimed laying off 8 percent of its total workforce is part of its aggressive restructuring plan to 'maximize shareholder value.'

TJ Denzer

February 15, 2024 11:25 AM

Image via Embracer Group

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Embracer Group has easily been one of the most concerning topics in gaming following a massive failed deal that put the company into crisis mode and prompted reorganization, but the game company’s recent report just gave a clearer glimpse of how bad it is. Between July and December 2023, Embracer Group shared that it laid off about eight percent of its workforce as part of its restructuring. That comes out to about 1,387 job cuts.

Embracer Group shared these stats in its Q3 2023 earnings results, which were shared on its investor relations website this week. According to Embracer Group, the restructuring plan it announced in June of 2023 has accounted for an 8 percent reduction of its global workforce. It also accounted for about 29 canceled games and the closure of some studios, including Saints Row developer Volition. Embracer Group included in the report that its priority remains to “maximize shareholder value in any given situation.”

Even despite so many layoffs, studio closures, and cancellations at Embracer Group, the company warned that the layoffs and closures might not be over.

So it seems that more major cuts could be expected of the developers in Embracer Group’s portfolio. Certainly, one of the biggest contributing factors to Embracer’s current crisis mode and restructuring plan was a failed deal with Saudi Arabia government-backed Savvy Gaming, in which a $2 billion deal unexpectedly fell through.

This, coupled with Embracer’s buying spree of studios and developers leading up to that event, paved the way for the unfortunate predicament it’s in now which has done arguably irreparable harm to studios under its wing. It doesn’t look like it’s about to get immediately better for Embracer, but the company has made it clear that the bottom line is satisfying shareholders, no matter what. Stay tuned for more updates on this story as they drop.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.