The Swedish gaming company Embracer Group AB is canceling a video game in the beloved Deus Ex series after two years of development and will lay off a number of employees as part of an ongoing initiative to cut costs, according to people familiar with the moves.

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The Swedish gaming company Embracer Group AB is canceling a video game in the beloved Deus Ex series after two years of development and will lay off a number of employees as part of an ongoing initiative to cut costs, according to people familiar with the moves.

Eidos, the Montreal, Canada-based studio behind the game, will instead focus on an original franchise. The canceled Deus Ex project, which had not yet been announced, was slated to enter production later this year, said the people, speaking anonymously because they are not authorized to talk to the press.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Following a period of massive expansion during the pandemic, Embracer Group has lately been making widespread layoffs, game cancellations and studio closures.

The sci-fi Deus Ex series has been critically acclaimed and sold more than 14 million units worldwide. It was acquired by Embracer in 2022.

  • Hubi@feddit.de
    1·
    9 months ago

    Fuck Embracer. I was following the rumors for quite a bit and this is such a massive disappointment. Deus Ex has to be one of the most mismanaged video game franchises of all time. I don’t understand why they’d give up on a loyal fanbase in favor of an “original franchise”.

    • heatiskillingme@kbin.social
      1·
      9 months ago

      I know people like the originals more than the newer ones, but I really enjoyed those too, I really love Adam Jensen and all the stereotypes on him, and Mankind Divided ended in a huge cliffhanger. I guess I’ll never know how it ends =/

  • muse@kbin.social
    1·
    9 months ago

    When I watched Embracer hoovering up all those studios, I knew they’d end up burning everything to the ground.

    How’s that infinite growth treating you, you fucking dumbasses?

  • Gork@lemm.ee
    0·
    9 months ago

    Cut costs now, but they’re not gonna get sales later. Have fun explaining the lack of exponential growth to the shareholders.

    • chaogomu@kbin.social
      1·
      9 months ago

      That’s not how it works. Making money today is the only thing these ghouls care about, ruining a company or brand is just dandy because they won’t be holding the bag when it bursts. They’ll have passed it to someone else. Someone else who will then work to gut the company even more before selling it to someone who will gut it and close it down.

      And nothing of real value will have been made, but lots of rich asshats will be slightly richer.

        • chaogomu@kbin.social
          1·
          9 months ago

          Cutting costs and laying people off makes the books look slightly better (more cash on hand) which makes the stock price jump, which is all these ghouls want because they’re going to sell off on the high, and then bail out.