Another Tough Week For Eidos Montreal
Eidos Montreal, the studio behind games like Deus Ex and Guardians of the Galaxy, has reportedly been hit with another round of layoffs. Multiple former employees have taken to LinkedIn to confirm they lost their jobs last week, covering a wide range of roles across the studio.
While neither Eidos Montreal nor its parent company Embracer Group has officially commented, the pattern lines up with the wider turbulence we have been seeing across the games industry, and especially within Embracer’s sprawling network of studios.
Presentation director Timothé Lapetite summed up the mood in a LinkedIn post, saying the studio "got served with one of those Mondays" and had to part ways with some incredible talent due to, in his words, "gestures at everything." That vague phrase captures a lot of what is going on in gaming right now: business deals falling apart, aggressive expansion plans backfiring, and studios scrambling to cut costs.
Projects Canceled And A Shift To Co Development
According to reports, most of the projects that Eidos Montreal had in development have been cancelled. Instead of leading its own big new titles, the studio is now said to be focused on co developing other publishers’ games.
Two projects in particular are mentioned:
Grounded 2 which is led by Obsidian and looks to continue the survival adventure of the original game where players are shrunk down to insect size in a backyard.
The new Fable reboot led by Playground Games which aims to revive the classic fantasy RPG series for modern hardware.
For PC and console players this shift has a few implications. Instead of getting more original narrative driven titles in the style of Deus Ex or Guardians of the Galaxy from Eidos Montreal the studio’s talent will likely be less visible but still important behind the scenes. Co development often means a partner studio handles level design, support engineering, art, optimization or specific gameplay systems for another team’s project.
It also suggests that Embracer wants to reduce risk by attaching Eidos Montreal to already established or high profile projects rather than backing expensive new IP or ambitious sequels that might not meet sales expectations.
Layoffs At Eidos Montreal And The Embracer Domino Effect
This is not the first time Eidos Montreal staff have been caught up in job cuts. In early 2024 the studio reportedly laid off 97 workers and cancelled an unannounced Deus Ex project that was in the works. That was a major blow for fans hoping to see the series return on current generation hardware, especially given how much potential there is for modern PC builds and consoles to push immersive sim systems, AI and visual detail further.
In March 2025 Eidos Montreal went through another round of cuts, letting go of around 75 employees. The latest layoffs add yet another chapter to a long running restructuring saga that has left many developers uncertain about their future.
All of this traces back to Embracer’s aggressive acquisition spree and the collapse of a huge financing deal. In 2023 a two billion dollar funding agreement fell through, leaving the company overextended and scrambling to get its finances back under control. Since then we have seen:
Multiple studio closures across the Embracer network.
Around 1,400 layoffs recorded by early 2024 with the total climbing higher as more cuts were announced.
The sale of Gearbox to Take Two Interactive for less than half of what Embracer originally paid.
Repeated promises that restructuring was almost over followed by fresh rounds of layoffs.
Even Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal’s partner studio within Embracer’s internal structure and the team currently working on the next Tomb Raider, has been hit hard. It has gone through three separate rounds of layoffs in 2025 alone as part of efforts to "optimize" development.
What This Means For Players And The PC Gaming Scene
For gamers watching from the outside the direct impact may not be obvious right away but there are some clear knock on effects.
Fewer ambitious projects With Eidos Montreal’s internal projects cancelled and Deus Ex shelved again we lose potential single player PC and console titles that could have pushed graphics fidelity, AI behavior and systemic design on modern GPUs and CPUs.
Longer waits for big releases When studios are reduced in size or shifted into support roles it can slow down development timelines. Games like Fable or other large scale projects might rely more heavily on co development partners which adds coordination overhead.
Brain drain in the industry Experienced developers suddenly looking for work might scatter to many different companies or leave games altogether. That can impact the quality and ambition of future titles, especially in technically demanding genres like immersive sims and large open world RPGs.
More risk averse publishing Embracer’s problems are a warning sign to other publishers about rapid expansion and big deals that do not pan out. That may lead to fewer experimental AA projects and more focus on safe, franchise heavy releases.
For PC players who love story rich experiences and deep systems the news from Eidos Montreal is worrying. The studio built a reputation for strong art direction, flexible level design and performance conscious development that could take advantage of high end hardware without completely leaving mid range builds behind.
On the flip side the studio’s shift to helping on games like Grounded 2 and Fable could still benefit players in more subtle ways. Extra hands on performance optimization, world building and gameplay systems can make these titles run better and feel more polished on release. Co development is a normal part of big modern productions even if it means some studios lose the spotlight.
For now the situation at Embracer and its studios remains unstable. Restructuring efforts that were supposedly finished in 2024 have clearly not resolved the underlying issues. Until the company stabilizes its finances and sets a more sustainable strategy developers at its studios will likely keep facing uncertainty and players will continue to see projects quietly cancelled or reshaped behind the scenes.
If you are following PC gaming hardware and performance trends it is worth keeping an eye on how these changes affect the types of games that get made and how much studios are willing to push the limits of current GPUs and CPUs. Ambitious titles need stable teams and long term backing and right now that is exactly what many developers at Embracer owned studios do not have.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/eidos-montreal-lays-off-more-employees-internal-projects-reportedly-cancelled-as-the-studio-shifts-focus-to-support-work/
