Embracer Group, the Swedish holding company in the process of restructuring, has reportedly canceled a Deus Ex game. Bloomberg says The developers had been working on the unannounced title for two years. Neither Embracer nor developer Eidos specifically addressed the reported cancellation, but confirmed They were laying off 97 employees at Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal.
Eidos will reportedly focus on “an original franchise.” BloombergSources say the Deus Ex game was scheduled to go into production later this year. The most recent main installment of the franchise was 2016. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
After growing aggressively through acquisitions during the pandemic, Embracer Group entered a turbulent period last year. The company announced a restructuring plan in June 2023 after an unnamed partner pulled out of a planned deal that would have brought in $2 billion over six years. axios later reported The mysterious investor was Savvy Games Group, funded by the Saudi government.
In August, Embracer announced the closure of Volition, the studio behind the Saints Row series. The parent company laid off about 900 employees in September and another 50 workers in Chorus Fishlabs developer. Earlier this month, Embracer shut down Lost Boys Interactive, creators of Little Tina's Wonderland – blaming the “headwinds facing the industry right now.”
Embracer says the restructuring phase will extend until the end of March. The company says it will provide regular updates on the process, including when it releases its next quarterly report on February 15.
In addition to the alleged cancellation of Deus Ex, Eidos confirmed that it laid off 97 employees from the development, administration and support services teams. “The global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer have finally impacted our studio,” Eidos wrote in a statement.
