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[Spyxos]

Restructuring plans have also seen seven internal studios closed

Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said on Thursday that the company’s restructuring plan is now entering its “final stretch”, but warned that more cuts could be coming as it looks to sell off more assets. “As part of the restructuring program, Embracer still has a few larger structured divestment processes ongoing that could strengthen our balance sheet and further reduce capex,” he said.

The restructuring also resulted in 1,387 job cuts, or about 8% of its global workforce, during the six months ended in December. This included cutting 871 internal game developers, 252 internal non-developers, and 264 external developers.

Embracer cancelled 29 unannounced games between July and December | VGC

Restructuring plans have also seen seven internal studios…

www.videogameschronicle.com

 

[Topher]

I came here looking for the Nintendo Direct...

 

[Draugoth]

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

This has to be a new level of mismanagement?

On another note I don't think I've ever purchased an Embracer group game before.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Whew... almost feared they'd cancel 30 games.

 

[splattered]

Who are they selling all their assets to? Have there been announcements of companies buying IP off of Embracer?

 

[SlimySnake]

Investigate them for fraud and throw the book at them. If they couldnt afford these assets why were the allowed to buy everyone? How did they buy everyone?

 

[AJUMP23]

A thread where the title and the content match. A new concept on GAF.

Embracer has held gaming and dragged it to the grave.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

This has to be a new level of mismanagement?

Nope, it' just startup bro thinking applied to gaming.

 

[kruis]

Microsoft must be surprised that another company has taken over their old motto "Embrace, extend, and extinguish".

 

[TVexperto]

sony cancells announced games every day...nothing new

 

[GHG]

Consolidation is good.

 

[lh032]

Embracer should be charged in court.

Seems like the purpose of these acquisition is to sell to another party, they are not interested in managing game development at all

 

[winjer]

Not even EA was this reckless with their studios.
Screw Embracer and their CEO.

 

[hemo memo]

29 games? Talk about quantity.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

Nope, it' just startup bro thinking applied to gaming.

A 17,000 employee global company is not really a startup, is it?

 

[kruis]

This has to be a new level of mismanagement?

On another note I don't think I've ever purchased an Embracer group game before.

You most likely have. They have taken over an absolute shitton of smaller publishers and studios. They own(ed) more than 150 studios.

 

[Synastry]

Not good and I just recently learned that the tomb raider IP is now own by Embracer.

 

[spons]

Embracer should be charged in court.

Seems like the purpose of these acquisition is to sell to another party, they are not interested in managing game development at all

Yeah it's totally illegal bro, sue them.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

A 17,000 employee global company is not really a startup, is it?

It is if it is run as one. A normal company will have CEO ousted by now for mismanagement of this calibre and betting everything on being sold to Saudis.

 

[Lions Gate]

what a fuck up a company, just die already

 

[swaffles23]

The Deus Ex game getting cancelled will always be the worst

 

[crackajack]

Covid driven elevated targets and inflated stock holder fantasies really implode especially at that company but in all gaming.
It feels like we hardly get any games meanwhile games get canceled at seemingly higher rate than ever. I wonder if these games were actually in development or were not just used as investor bait.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Can't make any money without releasing games.

 

[Metnut]

Please please not Kingdom Come 2 Deliverance 2 being cancelled

 

[Frwrd]

Anyone care or dares to put up a list of known IPs that they own or control?

Ps: fuck google

 

[SmokedMeat]

Just a matter of time before they kill off more games and studios.

Fucking garbage company.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Embracer makes Microsoft acquisitions look like great moves.

 

[CamHostage]

FYI, they had over 220 games in the works before things got real ugly. 10-15% of the slate canceled; 8% staff/studio reduction.

Embracer currently has a whopping 224 game projects in development

Precisely 11,152 developers are working on that mammoth slate, which includes five Lord of the Rings game projects.

www.gamedeveloper.com

Investigate them for fraud and throw the book at them. If they couldnt afford these assets why were the allowed to buy everyone? How did they buy everyone?

Because nobody else wanted them.

Embracer was reckless in its growth and old brand acquisition, but they were able to commit to that plan because they were the only one out there interested in these properties to fuel its Get-Big-Fast corporation plan. Every other publisher was trimming its release calendar and annualizing its core franchises and steering all teams to chase big-payout trends like GAAS, while Embracer tried to run up the gap left in the middle with a wide portfolio blanketing genres and harvesting nostalgia. It worked for a little over 10 years, and might have continued to work if investment funding had come through (and might still continue to work if all of this finds a level without sinking further,) but the differences of its business strategy make it more vulnerable (and more visible in its fall) than other publishers following the modern marketing approach of fewer, bigger games.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

29 might be bad, but then again they got 100+ studios!

 

[Mr Moose]

29 might be bad, but then again they got 100+ studios!

How the fuck did they manage that?
Badly.

 

[Hudo]

Those motherfuckers also cancelled the next Expeditions game. Embracer can go die in a ditch. Together with the whole upper management who caused this disaster in the first place. I bet none of these fuckers took any pay cut.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

How the fuck did they manage that?
Badly.

Who knows whats going on. That master list shows so many studios without their own wiki page it means they are so small or dormant(?) nothing is even going on for anyone to even make a page about them

 

[Moses85]

Atari Vibes.

Its crazy how much money they invested the last couple of years.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Atari Vibes.

Its crazy how much money they invested the last couple of years.

They swooped in when loan rates were at historic lows, and assumed all these places they bought up were covid bargain priced. Interest and debt rates roughly tripled since then. If you read their acquisition history it all came to a screeching halt I think in Jan 2023 when rates were in middle of skyrocketing.

I remember one gaffer saying he thinks Embracer isnt even really interested in long term game making. But just a holding shell to scoop up tons of indies and second tier franchises and companies with a plan to sell them for profit later. If that was truly the game plan, rising debt rates killed that strategy.

 

[dragonyeuw]

Seriously, fuck Embracer.

 

[IAmRei]

Why i got feeling they should not be called embracer, their news usually the opposite of "embrace" ...