Hard blow at Embracer… The owner of the Tomb Raider license makes a decision which is enough to worry the studios formerly and still under his control.
The video game industry has had a string of bad news in recent months, if not years. While buybacks were going well during the COVID period, the decline is brutal. The studios are closing one after the other. After the layoffs at Xbox and PlayStation, it’s Embrace, which owns the rights to the Tomb Raider license, which recently announced a major restructuring. But, the ogre having had an appetite bigger than his stomach, he too falls into the dynamic of closure. Thus, it is a studio which had nevertheless released a reinterpretation of a cult game which is forced to say goodbye.
Lockdowns begin in Tomb Raider’s house
Two months ago, the Swedish giant Embracer announced its split into three distinct divisions. While Asmodee regained its independence in terms of publishing board games, the group’s video game branch was divided between Coffee Stain & Friends And Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. Thus, the latter hosted, among others, the Crystal Dynamics studio and the Tomb Raider franchise. But not all development teams have had the same luck.
Full details of the Embracer reorganization had not been communicated. As such, the fate of all studios remained uncertain. It is therefore with surprise (and a certain sadness) that we learn of the closure of a “small” Swedish studio. It is Interactive Piecesto whom we owe Magicka 2, Titant Quest Atlantis and what we hoped would be the revival of a cult franchise, namely the half-hearted remake of Alone in the Dark.
Despite a unique and creative approach in its productions since 2007, the studio seems not to have convinced itself of its viability for the coming years. The details behind this closure are not known. However, we saw it at Xbox, the insufficient sales figures, even unanimously acclaimed games, were enough to close the story of a studio. Here, we can suspect that in addition to the unappealing reviews of Alone in the Dark, buyers were not there.
This announcement is a strong moment in the strategic restructuring of Embracer. Pieces Interactive now serves as an example to his comrades. Here’s one additional pressure which is added for the other teams. The figures will have to satisfy investors more than ever. And the studios will not be able to brandish their historicity as a totem of immunity. Should we be worried even about structures as solid as Crystal Dynamics and Tomb Raider? Little chance that Lara Croft will say her final goodbyes soon. But we now say that a misstep could well cost even the most popular studios their place.