Embracer Group continues to reduce its studio portfolio. Now, with the closure of a studio purchased just seven years ago…

Whether we’re talking about reviews or sales, we can say that the latest Alone in the Dark didn’t live up to expectations. It is a minor disappointment for fans who have been waiting for the return of the legendary horror saga for more than fifteen years. However, all of this will have dire consequences for Pieces Interactive. The studio responsible for the development of the video game has announced that it will end its activities.

It ended a streak that began in 2007 with a social media post with the message saying, “Thanks For Playing With Us”.

Pieces Interactive, the latest victim of the Embracer Group

The past few months have been particularly turbulent for Pieces Interactive. The failure of Alone in the Dark led to the first wave of layoffs in April. However, even that was not enough: they had to pull down the curtain. It should be noted that the studio has been part of the Embracer Group since 2017. The latter is one of the worst-performing companies in the entire video game industry, having made more than 4,000 layoffs and cancelled around 80 video games in recent years. Embracer has also shut down other legendary developers, such as Volition.

The developers of Alone in the Dark had to constantly monitor the rapid pace at which the rest of the company’s employees were laid off, which does not seem like the most favourable environment for the development of a good video game.

In that sense, it seemed a sad cliché that after the failure of the title, they would be the next to be affected by what Embracer defined as “reorganization”. It should be noted that the word actually refers to the need to cut costs after pursuing a very aggressive strategy of acquiring studios, spending money they literally didn’t have.

So far, the only public statement regarding the closure of Pieces Interactive is the short social media post we link to. Whether they will be the only ones affected by another round of Embracer closings and layoffs is not yet known. Or the company will continue the already embarrassing tradition…

Source: X