Embracer Group is hitting both gamers and its developers with a one-two punch today with the announcement that it is shutting down Onoma.
According to Bloomberg, the recently renamed studio Onoma staff at Onoma were informed of the shutdown during a meeting Tuesday, some of whom were offered roles at sister company, Eidos Montréal, which Embracer also bought from Square Enix. The closure will reportedly affect about 200 employees. Bloomberg also reported that Eidos Montréal is working on a new Deus Ex game that is “very, very early” development, co-developing a new Fable game alongside Microsoft-owned development studio Playground Games, along with an entirely new IP.
Eidos Montreal, which remains intact, canceled the Stranger Things-inspired “kids on bikes” game that was rumored recently. They’re now working on:
1) A new IP (recently rescoped)
2) A new Deus Ex (very very early)
3) co-dev partnerships with Xbox including Fable— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 1, 2022
Embracer Group reportedly decided to close down Onoma, a studio it bought just this May, to scale back the scope and cost of making games. This news comes shortly after the video game publisher renamed the studio formerly known as Square Enix Montréal just last month.
The Canadian developer is known for mobile games like Deus Ex, Hitman Go, Tomb Raider Go, and had an iOS and Android game for Avatar: The Last Airbender in development. According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, one of the cancelled games Onoma was working on that has been cancelled was a Stranger Things-inspired biking game.
Read More: Tomb Raider, Deus Ex’s New Owners Are Going To Milk Them For All They’re Worth
Embracer is a Swedish gaming company that owns other studios, including Gearbox Interactive and THQ Nordic, among others.
Back when Embracer first bought Onoma from Square Enix, the publisher announced it would focus on making sequels, remakes, remasters, and spinoffs of older games like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain, as well as “transmedia projects” like the upcoming Netflix Tomb Raider anime series.
Kotaku reached out to Embracer Group for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.
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