The video game publisher Embracer Group AB has shut down Onoma, a gaming studio formerly known as Square Enix Montreal. Square Enix Montreal had previously worked on titled like Tomb Raider Reloaded and the Go line of mobile games including Lara Croft Go and Deus Ex Go. After acquiring the studio a few months ago and rebranding it entirely, they have shut it down without very much information as to why.
First revealed by Bloomberg, it is said that the company informed some of the Montreal employees that they would be transferring to Eidos Montreal, the sister company of the gaming studio. Embracer was asked about this happening, and according to Bloomberg, the publisher did not have an answer at this time. What makes this interesting is the timing. The publisher not only just acquired the Montreal studio a few months ago, but announced the rebranding of the company on October 10, 2022. Why would the company go through such a drastic change and spend resources on rebranding a company they intended to give the chop to?
Some speculate the obvious; spending cuts. Throughout the past year, Sweden-based Embracer has been acquiring both large-scale and small-scale companies left and right, and it is believed that this sudden change of plans for the Onoma studio was a casualty in the cutting of costs and keeping their over-spending at bay. This is not the only cost being cut, as according to the report by Bloomberg, people have also stated that Eidos Montreal has cut back on the workload for one of their unannounced projects. More so, the sister company has allegedly stated they will also be completely canceling another unannounced project.
There is a silver lining at the end of this road, though, as it was also revealed that Eidos does have plans to work with Microsoft, including one game in the Fable franchise. Though there has not been any form of a comment made on this very swift decision by Embracer, one would think they will make a statement as to why this occurred, and possibly their plan for the future.
