Embracer-Owned Black Forest Games Has Laid Off 50% Of Its Staff

Yet another video game company has announced layoffs in the first month of 2024. This time it’s Black Forest Games, a subsidiary of THQ Nordic (itself a subsidiary of gaming giant Embracer), most known for developing the Destroy All Humans! remake and its successor, Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed.

As part of an extensive list of all games industry layoffs that have occurred already in 2024, Kotaku reported that Black Forest Games is just the latest to announce layoffs. The THQ Nordic internal studio has cut around 50% of its staff, with the company reportedly employing around 110 employees as of last year.

Kotaku quoted sources familiar with the situation who reported that creative directors and most, or potentially all, of the company’s managers will keep their jobs, meaning the sweeping layoffs targeted the lowest rungs of the company.

Black Forest Games is currently in development on a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game inspired by The Last Ronin comic series. The game was announced in March last year, and more detail was revealed at the THQ Nordic Digital Showcase in August.

Parent company Embracer Group first gained public attention for a number of aggressive acquisitions in 2022, including buying a number of studios from Square Enix including Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics, as well as acquiring the rights to the Lord of the Rings. Less than a year later, Embracer announced that it would undergo a “restructuring” that would see studios closed, games cancelled, and employees laid off across its umbrella of companies.