Embracer Group to split into three companies following mass layoffs | The Midweek Memo #015

Hola 👋

This week in gaming has been interesting and— for the most part—the news has been rather positive!

Firstly, Embracer Group has announced it is splitting into three distinct entities following months of layoffs, studio closures, and cancellations.

Elsewhere, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has been announced as releasing later this year and Fallout 4 has topped the sales charts due to the popularity of the Amazon show.

On a more somber note, LittleBigPlanet 3's servers have been shut down indefinitely, rendering over a decade's worth of player-created content unavailable.

Finally, an Epic Games executive has revealed details about the company's failed attempt to collaborate with Nintendo on Fortnite, which fell apart when Nintendo made an exclusivity request for Switch consoles.

Hot Jobs 🔥

This batch has plenty of variation and several global remote opportunities!

[1] Social Media Coordinator - Europe Based
🏢 FlyQuest 🇪🇺 Remote Europe 📄 Freelance 🎚️ 2+ years exp

[2] Engineering Manager | Age of Empires
🏢 CaptureAge 🗺️ Remote Anywhere 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 5+ years exp

[3] Graduate 3D Artist
🏢 Wushu Studios 🇬🇧 Liverpool 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 0+ years exp

[4] Associate Production Coordinator: Environment
🏢 Rockstar Games 🇬🇧 Edinburgh 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 0+ years exp

[5] Video Editor / Social Media Strategist
🏢 BoomTV / AVGL 🗺️ Remote Anywhere 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 3+ years exp

[6] Associate QA Tester: Technical
🏢 Rockstar Games 🇬🇧 Edinburgh 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 1+ year exp

[7] UX/UI Designer - League of Legends
🏢 Leetify 🗺️ Remote Anywhere  📄 Freelance 🎚️ 2+ years exp

[8] Unity3D Mobile SDK Team Lead
🏢 Yodo1 🗺️ Remote Anywhere 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 2+ years exp

[9] Destiny Systems Designer (Associate to Mid)
🏢 Bungie 🇺🇸 Remote USA 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 1+ year exp

[10] Graduate Programmer
🏢 Wushu Studios 🇬🇧 Liverpool 📄 Full Time 🎚️ 0+ years exp

Over 210 new listings have been posted to our platform since the last Midweek Memo. Things seem to be picking up again!

Big News 📰

3️⃣ Embracer Group to split into three separate companies

• Embracer Group has announced that it will split into three entities: Asmodee, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends.
  

• Asmodee will continue to publish and distribute board and card games, while Coffee Stain & Friends will focus on free-to-play and indie titles. Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends owns not only the Lord of the Rings IP, but also houses Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, and other prominent developers and franchises.
  

• Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors claims that the split will allow each company to focus on different objectives, with Asmodee securing a €900 million financing agreement to pay off Embracer's existing debts.

Other News 🗞️

This week has seen announcements for both old and new games, with Warhorse Studios announcing the follow-up to 2018's Kingdom Come: Deliverance is arriving later this year.

Following the critical and commercial success of Amazon's Fallout, Fallout 4 has risen to the top of the sales charts nearly a decade after its release. With its next-generation update coming to PS5 this week, we'll likely hear of even more players jumping in.

LittleBigPlanet 3's PS4 servers were unexpectedly closed this week, leaving millions of user-created levels dating back to 2008 inaccessible, as the PS3 versions are no longer playable online as of 2021.

In this week's weirder news, Nintendo reportedly wanted to bring Metroid's Samus to Fortnite, but only if the skin could be seen exclusively on the Switch. Epic, unsurprisingly, declined the request, but Samus could have faced off against Master Chief and Kratos at some point, which would’ve been cool.

🛡️ Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 will arrive later this year

☢️ Fallout 4 tops sales charts in Europe almost a decade after its release

😢 LittleBigPlanet 3's servers have been shut down after being taken offline in January

🤔 Nintendo wanted Samus to be a Switch-exclusive Fortnite skin

Getting Social 📲

Here are two of our most-viewed LinkedIn posts from the last seven days with apologies in advance for the haunting image on the first one (😅):

This latest entry-level jobs thread is packed with opportunities in nine countries that don't require a single year of experience!

Nintendo is searching for French-speaking QA staff, while EA and Ubisoft are both seeking software engineers, project managers, and artists for summer internship programs.

We post new entry-level positions on our platform daily, and we sincerely hope Cursed Toad didn't startle you too much. 😅

Martin Chang's incredible attack animations wowed a couple of thousand of our followers this week, with some fancy cloth and ink physics leading to a very satisfying viewing experience.

Created in Unreal Engine 5 with Maya, the character and their weapon leave ink trails on the floor during an attack combo when they touch the ground. The protagonist can even use an umbrella to close the gap between their next target or to dodge.

We can't stop watching this on repeat, so it's safe to say we'd love to see this in a game in the future! More of Martin's amazing work can be found on their website, and you can keep up with upcoming projects by following them on X.

Adios ✌️

We hope you enjoyed this week's newsletter as much as we enjoyed writing it!

It's a massive shame that LittleBigPlanet 3 has been shut down, but at least we have a new RPG to look forward to. It definitely would have been great to be able to save some of those beloved levels, though.

As for Embracer's split, we're hoping it leads to more good news rather than bad, as its seemingly endless restructuring program has resulted in thousands of job losses over the past year.

Wishing you and yours all the best,

Danny and the gang at Hitmarker 🧡