The Swedish based conglomerate is present almost everywhere in the world, so unfortunately it was to be expected that there would be some layoffs as a result of the restructuring.

The studio in question is Zen Studios, and it is said that thirty-two employees have received a nice notice of dismissal. Adam Dienes, the former community manager of the studio, said on LinkedIn that he was also affected by the layoffs and immediately started looking for a job. Videogamelayoffs has a habit of tracking downsizing in the gaming industry, and the site has learned from a direct source at Zen Studios that exactly thirty-two people have been let go from the studio, which employed seventy-one people in 2021, showing the door to nearly half the team that they are being shown the door to a bigger outside.

Zen Studios, founded in 2003 by Zsolt Kígyóssy, joined Embracer Group in 2020, and within this group the team was part of Saber Interactive, known for many games (Pinball FX: 2007, Zen Pinball: 2011, Pinball FX 2: 2012, CastleStorm: 2014, KickBeat: 2014, Pinball FX 3: 2017, Out of Ammo: 2018, Star Wars Pinball: 2019, Williams Pinball: 2019, CastleStorm II: 2020, Operencia: The Stolen Sun: 2021, Circus Electrique: 2022).

Gamesindustry contacted Embracer Group and a spokesperson reiterated the company’s earlier statement that the restructuring program will involve studio closures and the shelving of several projects in development. The company does not comment on individual studios and will only provide more information on developments in its quarterly financial reports. The next one is scheduled for November 16, so we won’t hear anything about the plans for another month.

The Embracer Group did this because their $2 billion deal with Savvy Games (Saudi Arabia) didn’t work out, so they closed Volition (Saints Row) and Campfire Cabal, and there were layoffs at Crystal Dynamics, Beamdog, and Gearbox Publishing.

Source: Gamesindustry