Beamdog, the studio founded by former BioWare developers Trent Oster and Cameron Tofer, is best known for re-releases of CRPGs like Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate 2, Planescape: Torment, Neverwinter Nights, and Icewind Dale. It was acquired by Embracer Group earlier this year, and its latest game, Mythforce (which is basically Vermintide if it looked like a He-Man cartoon) came out of early access this month. It’s the kind of online co-op game that would benefit from robust post-launch support, which makes now a particulaly rough time for 26 members of the team to be laid off.
Among them is associate graphic artist Jill Hollet, who wrote on LinkedIn, “Regrettably, as part of the Embracer Group’s ongoing restructuring initiative, Beamdog made the difficult decision to release 26 employees, myself among them. I am incredibly grateful to them for affording me the opportunity to embark upon my professional journey in the industry. It has been an honor to collaborate with such exceptional individuals during my time there.”
Embracer Group went on an acquisition spree in 2021 and 2022, snaffling up Gearbox, Saber Interactive, Koch Media (rebranded as Plaion), Crystal Dynamics, Eidos-Montréal, Square Enix Montreal, Middle-earth Enterprises, Tripwire, and others. Its fortunes turned around with the collapse of a $2 billion deal, which necessitated restructuring, in the form of a string of layoffs and studio closures.
Saints Row studio Volition was closed down, and Borderlands developer Gearbox is rumored to be up for sale. Embracer also closed Campfire Cabal, a studio headed by the creator of the Expeditions series of RPGs.
