Eidos Montreal is laying off 75 staff, saying it doesn’t ‘have the capacity’ to relocate them
“One of our mandates is coming to an end”, the studio says
Eidos-Montréal is laying off 75 staff, saying it’s unable to move them to other projects.
The Embracer-owned studio posted a statement on its LinkedIn page, saying it had to let the staff go because one of its ‘mandates’ was ending.
“Today, we informed our studio staff that we are going to let go up to 75 valuable members, as one of our mandates is coming to an end,” the statement reads.
“It is not a reflection of their dedication or skills, but unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to entirely reallocate them to our other ongoing projects and services.
“These very talented, highly experienced experts are going to enter the employment market, and we are working to support them through this transition. Eidos-Montréal stays committed to deliver its other projects currently in development.”
This is not only the latest in a long line of mass layoffs in the video game industry in recent years, but also not the first round of layoffs Eidos-Montréal has seen recently.
In January 2024, it was reported that Embracer had cancelled an unannounced Deus Ex game at Eidos-Montréal, with employees being laid off as part of the cancellation.
The studio subsequently confirmed plans to lay off 97 employees, citing “the global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer” as the reason.
Further reading
Swedish gaming giant Embracer acquired Eidos Montreal from Square Enix in 2022, alongside Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics.
This was followed just one year later, however, by an announcement that Embracer was implementing a restructuring programme which would involve the closure of studios, layoffs and the cancellation of some projects.
This resulted in the outright closure of some studios such as Saints Row developer Volition, Free Radical Design and Campfire Cabal, as well as the sale of other studios such as Borderlands maker Gearbox (which was acquired by Take-Two for $460 million).
Last year it was confirmed that Eidos-Montréal was supporting developer Playground Games with the making of Fable. It’s not yet clear, however, whether the ‘mandate coming to an end’ that the studio is referring to relates to this or another project.
