Crystal Dynamics, the recognised developer responsible for legendary titles such as Tomb Raider and Perfect Dark, recently revealed a huge internal restructuring effort that has resulted in the early loss of ten people. This news was verified in a message sent on Wednesday, as the studio struggles to realign itself with modern commercial demands.
"Crystal Dynamics made the difficult decision today to part ways with 9 Brand/Marketing and 1 IT employee due to an internal restructuring to align the studio with our current business needs," the studio stated. We are working directly with the affected employees to provide them with full support. If you have any open roles in Brand Direction, Creative Services, Community, or IT at your studio, please forward them to peoplexp@crystald.com, and we will make sure the information gets to the correct people."
This restructuring follows Embracer's acquisition of Crystal Dynamics from Square Enix last year. In June, Embracer announced a "restructuring programme" that included the closure of some game studios and the termination of certain projects. This decision was reached after an unexpected $2 billion contract with a mystery partner, afterwards revealed to be the Saudi government-funded Savvy Games Group, fell through.
Despite these difficulties, Crystal Dynamics stated that their existing projects, such as the Perfect Dark collaboration with The Initiative and the production of the next Tomb Raider title together with Amazon Games, will be unaffected.
Embracer's recent actions, including the dismissal of 26 employees at Beamdog, the developer behind Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and Mythforce, which Embracer acquired last year, have sent shockwaves across the gaming industry. Furthermore, Embracer recently closed Saints Row producer Volition and is apparently examining the prospect of selling Gearbox, the studio behind Borderlands, which it acquired in 2021 for up to $1.4 billion. The gaming scene is evolving, and these strategic decisions reflect the industry's ever-changing character.
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