Overview
- Eidos Montreal has announced layoffs, affecting up to 75 employees, due to the expiration of a project mandate.
- The Embracer Group has been unable to transition those affected to new projects, necessitating these job cuts.
- The recent workforce reductions at Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics illustrate the ongoing challenges facing the gaming industry.
Eidos Montreal, renowned for its contributions to the Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Marvel franchises, has revealed plans to lay off as many as 75 employees shortly. This marks the second consecutive year that the studio faces workforce reductions, highlighting a troubling trend within the gaming sector.
Layoffs have become disturbingly common in recent years, reflecting the severe challenges engulfing the gaming industry. Numerous studios, regardless of size, have either shut down entirely or implemented significant job cuts as a survival strategy. These cutbacks have impacted not only those developers behind less successful games but also teams from studios that have recently tasted success, such as the Marvel Rivals team. Notably, the Canadian studio, which has delivered critically acclaimed titles like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, finds itself in this precarious situation once again.
In a social media announcement, Eidos Montreal confirmed that up to 75 employees would soon be laid off, attributing this decision to the conclusion of a project mandate. The studio, which operates under the Embracer Group, stated that it could not fully reassign the affected personnel to any ongoing projects. This development follows a wave of layoffs at Crystal Dynamics, another Embracer Group studio that has worked closely with Eidos Montreal on the Tomb Raider series. Despite the job cuts, Eidos Montreal has expressed its commitment to advancing existing projects.
Workforce Reductions at Eidos Montreal
Today, we informed our studio staff that we are going to let go up to 75 valuable members, as one of our mandates is coming to an end. It is not a reflection of their dedication or skills, but unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to entirely reallocate them (cont) pic.twitter.com/uzgWiHYnP8 — Eidos-Montreal (@EidosMontreal) March 31, 2025
Following Embracer Group’s acquisition of select Square Enix studios and intellectual properties in 2022, Eidos Montreal has experienced multiple rounds of restructuring and layoffs in quick succession. Earlier this year, in January 2024, the company let go of 97 employees and reportedly shelved a promising new Deus Ex project, disappointing fans of the franchise. Given the recent job cuts at both Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics, the outlook for Embracer Group remains uncertain, with the possibility of further layoffs not entirely ruled out.
Interestingly, amidst these layoffs, Eidos Montreal is also involved in developing the highly anticipated Fable alongside Playground Games and Third Kind Games. While the impact of the recent workforce reductions on the production of this role-playing game, set to launch in 2026, remains unclear, further updates may be forthcoming as the projects progress.