Pieces Interactive Officially Shut Down by Embracer
Embracer Group has shut down Pieces Interactive, the developer behind Alone in the Dark.
Pieces Interactive is Shut Down
In recent years, Embracer Group has developed a reputation for acquiring and subsequently shuttering multiple subdivisions. Alone in the Dark served as a reimagining of Infogrames’s 1992 series of the same name and was released in March 2024 to mixed reviews, despite a compelling lead duo in Jodie Comer and David Harbour. The original was credited as being one of the earliest iterations of a survival horror game, but the 2024 remake failed to inspire.
Embracer Group, formerly Nordic Games, operates out of Karlstad, Sweden. As of 2024, the company owns over 100 studios, including Coffee Stain Studios (Goat Simulator), Cryptic Studios (Star Trek Online), Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider), and even Dark Horse Comics, the publisher behind Star Wars, 300, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Since 2022, many studios under Embracer Group have been subjected to layoffs. By late 2023 alone, Embracer Group had laid off more than 900 employees in an attempt to reduce a staggering $2 billion debt.
Courtesy of IGN, Pieces Interactive posted a statement to its website with the following text: “2007 – 2024, Thanks for playing with us.” Pieces Interactive addressed the closure by reflecting on the studio’s 17 years of service to the gaming community with titles such as Puzzlegeddon, Fret Nice, Leviathan Warships, Robo Surf, and Kill to Collect. The statement shares how Pieces Interactive was acquired by Embracer Group in 2017 following the success of the RPG Titan Quest as well as its two expansion packs, Titan Quest: Ragnarok and Titan Quest: Atlantis. Embracer Group also divided itself into three separate entities recently to better categorize its subsidiaries. Gustav Pethrus, a former employee of Pieces Interactive, verified the closure on LinkedIn, and other former employees have also confirmed the layoffs to have been happening since mid-April.
In the recent news, Embracer Group was not happy about how Alone in the Dark sold. According to GamesIndustry.biz, there are 141 development projects in the works across all of Embracer Group’s businesses, down from a previous 221. From those statistics, it looks like Embracer has canceled around 80 projects over the last few years, and yet Alone in the Dark still managed to come to fruition. Despite mix reviews, Alone in the Dark played it’s part as third person horror game.
With the closure of Pieces Interactive, it’s hard to tell whether the reboot of Alone in the Dark will continue or not. But it’s clearly safe to say that Pieces Interactive took it’s place in the closed developers and we can’t say for sure what waits for Alone in the Dark franchise.
Read More: Alone in the Dark Review
