Embracer Group, the Swedish holding company undergoing restructuring, has reportedly canceled a Deus Ex game. Bloomberg says developers had been working on the unannounced title for two years. Neither Embracer nor developer Eidos addressed the reported cancellation specifically, but they confirmed they were laying off 97 employees at Deus Ex developer Eidos Montreal.
Eidos will reportedly focus instead on “an original franchise.” Bloomberg’s sources say the Deus Ex game was scheduled to start production later this year. The franchise’s most recent mainline installment was 2016’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
After aggressively growing 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, which the Saudi government funds.
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 at Chorus developer Fishlabs. Earlier this month, Embracer shuttered Lost Boys Interactive, makers of Tiny Tina’s Wonderland — pinning the blame on “headwinds facing the industry right now.”
Embracer says the restructuring phase will run until the end of March. The company claims it will provide regular updates on the process, including when it publishes its next quarterly report on February 15.
Alongside the alleged Deus Ex cancellation, Eidos confirmed it let go of 97 employees from development teams, administration and support services. “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.
This story originally appeared on Engadget
