Embracer Studio Reportedly Cancelled New Red Faction Amid Lay-Offs

The fallout from the massive wave of Embracer layoffs over the past two years is still being felt, as a new report has revealed a potential new Red Faction title was cancelled.

A massive new report from Rock Paper Shotgun has been fired off today giving a rare inside look at what it was like to work at Embracer Studios during their enormous wave of layoffs. In that report, it is mentioned after the Group shuttered Volition due to poor sales figures (and reception) of Saints Row 2022 it wasn’t the end of the Red Faction series.

It turns out Fishlabs, a studio bought by the controversial video game group in 2018, had built a “visual prototype” for a brand new Red Faction game (another unnamed Sci-Fi title was also reportedly in development), which even had its own “fake trailer”, but the projects were cancelled before they even received a proper announcement. Fishlabs allegedly wanted to make the new Red Faction title closer to 2009’s well-received Red Faction: Guerilla and avoid what Red Faction: Armageddon did wrong.

Unfortunately, the new Red Faction title never came to fruition and was cancelled. Last November, the never-seen Red Faction , the previously mentioned sci-fi title, and 50 employees were laid off from Fishlabs as casualties of the Embracer Group layoff spree. It’s worth mentioning other Embracer Group studios during this time, Free Radical Design and Cryptic Studios, also suffered from big layoffs last November (their parent company was Embracer). Readers can find all of the studios affected by Embracer’s mass exodus of layoffs on the (still ongoing) page created by Farhan Noor, which details all layoffs in the gaming industry.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Group has just released its annual earnings report . Embracer has said in their report that AI could “massively enhance game development by increasing resource efficiency, adding intelligent behaviours, personalization, and optimization to gameplay experiences” also stating “Embracer Group also understands the potential risks associated with the use of AI. Our aim is to empower our employees with AI applications.”

Fishlabs Red Faction sounded promising, with plot details being set 100 years after the events of Guerilla on a less hostile and more terraformed Mars planet, there were even plans for a potential female protagonist, but this Red Faction was another victim of layoffs. Fans should head over to read the RPS report to take a look at what it was like being a part of Embracer during these trying layoff periods.