Cryptic Studios, the developer behind Neverwinter, has been hit by a number of layoffs at the hands of Embracer Group, with current and former employees revealing there has been a “reduction in force” without revealing exact numbers.
Mike Fatum, the senior community manager and writer at Cryptic Studios, revealed on LinkedIn that “many of the best people I know were let go from Cryptic Studios today.” Meanwhile, the studio’s lead environment artist, Scot Boyd, wrote in a separate LinkedIn post that “a lot of amazing people” have lost their jobs.
Embracer Group has axed a number of positions across art, narrative, and engineering as part of an ongoing restructuring process, with the aim of becoming a “highly cash-flow generative business.” As such, a number of cuts have hit various developers including Beamdog, Crystal Dynamics, Gearbox Publishing, and Rainbow Studios.
Volition, the studio behind the Saints Row franchise, was sadly shuttered altogether earlier this year alongside Campfire Cabal.
Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors said last month during the company’s annual general meeting Q&A:
Ultimately we are making decisions to either restructure or downsize some teams, and there will be a few cases of closures. It’s difficult and it takes time, but we announced this in June and now we’re at the end of September and we’re confident to deliver on the targets we set out for the end of the fiscal year.
[Source – Game Developer]
