New World Interactive is next studio on Embracer’s chopping block

A project canned and a team gutted

It looks like New World Interactive, the developer of Insurgency: Sandstorm, is the next studio on Embracer Group’s chopping block. At least eight former employees of the company have posted on LinkedIn that the project they had been working on has been canceled, making a majority of the team redundant.

These layoffs seem to be concentrated on the studio based in Calgary, which was founded in 2019.

“It's with a heavy heart that the project I have been working on at New World Interactive for the past few years will not see the light of day. I will miss all the wonderful people that I have become so close with, and I hope we all land on our feet and our paths cross soon,” one of the affected employees wrote.

Insurgency: Sandstorm itself seems to be safe at the moment / New World Interactive

“Hey everyone, our project at New World Interactive was canceled today and most of the team has been let go as a result, including myself,” another cut developer stated.

Aside from senior positions, which look like they’ll be reassigned to other projects, the layoffs have hit everyone from quality assurance and programmers to level designers. The total number of those affected is currently not clear.

Saber Interactive, of which New World Interactive is a subsidiary, stated towards GamesIndustry.biz that the studio would not get shut down completely, calling the move a “reorganization” that “has unfortunately resulted in layoffs at the studio.”

Development on Insurgency: Sandstorm and other secret projects will continue.

Embracer has already laid off more than 900 employees over the course of its current cost-cutting program. Volition, Campfire Cabal, and Free Radical Design are among the previous victims of this company-wide restructuring process.