Embracer lays off 50 at Chorus developer Fishlabs

More layoffs have befallen Embracer subsidiaries, this time at German developer Fishlabs.

Ex-staff revealed they've been laid off from the studio, and sources speaking to VGC claim 50 employees (out of a total headcount of 120) have been let go overall. Embracer CEO Lars Wingfors claimed there was a "lack of approval and financing" for a Fishlabs project that has since been cancelled. 

In her post saying she was looking for work, systems designer Inari Bornholm noted that this makes her third cancelled project of the year.

Fishlabs' work

Fishlabs was founded in 2004 and is best known for the Galaxy on Fire and Secret Files series. Beyond that, the studio developed the Nintendo Switch versions of Saints Row 3 and Saints Row IV and the console version of Valheim. Its most recent non-port release is the 2021 space game Chorus. 

In mid-November, Embracer disclosed that it'd laid off about 900 people within the last three months. Since August, it's cut jobs at studios such as Cryptic, Crystal Dynamics, and Beamdog, and wholly closed subsidiaries Volition and Campfire Cabal.

More layoffs may be on the horizon for Embracer. It's still seeking a buyer for Borderlands developer Gearbox (which it acquired in 2021) and evaluating Free Radical Design (which it actively revived to create a new TimeSplitters game) for potential closure as well.