Embracer Group, the Swedish video game and media company that owns a huge number of subsidiaries, including Plaion, Saber Interactive, and THQ Nordic, has confirmed that it’s laid off around 8% of its staff since the start of its restructuring program last year.
The restructuring program was first announced in June 2023, and since then, it’s seen enormous staff cuts across a wide range of its studios. For example, Saints Row studio Volition was closed down entirely in August, as was TimeSplitters studio Free Radical Design in December. Just last month, Shadow of the Tomb Raider developer Eidos-Montréal confirmed it was laying off 97 members of staff.
In its latest financial report, Embracer confirmed that in the last quarter (between October and December 2023), the company laid off 483 people, bringing the number of staff affected by the restructuring program since its inception up to 1,387.
The report also confirmed that the company is “nearing completion” of the restructuring program. CEO Lars Wingefors wrote: “As we are nearing completion of the program, we are tracking well towards our opex and capex targets, improving current and future cash flow generation.” He referred to the decisions to part ways with team members as particularly “difficult,” but earlier in the report, he said: “Our overruling principle is to always maximize shareholder value in any given situation.”
Slightly later in the report, Wingefors wrapped up his statement by expressing optimism for the company’s future. He said: “With the actions that we are now taking, we are creating a strong foundation for the future, with an improved financial profile, and a more streamlined structure, while leveraging the potential of our diversified portfolio. We have great assets and IPs and we aim to demonstrate the earnings power of those assets over time.”
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