A Red Faction sequel was within the works on the Embracer-owned developer of Galaxy On Fire and Chorus earlier than it was hit by layoffs, based on a brand new report.
Rock, Paper Shotgun reported that Fishlabs, purchased by controversial online game group Embracer in 2018, was engaged on a sci-fi Metroidvania and had constructed a “visible prototype” for a model new Red Faction recreation earlier than each tasks have been canceled and their builders laid off in 2023.
Embracer had already shut down the unique creator of the cult basic Red Faction, Volition, by the point Fishlabs put collectively its Red Faction pitch. According to RPS, a group at Fishlabs constructed a “pretend trailer” with Unreal Engine 5 to current to Embracer-owned writer Plaion, with the hope of making a recreation just like 2009’s well-received Red Faction: Guerrilla.
Critics praised that recreation for its big open world and, specifically, spectacular destruction-based gameplay that noticed gamers smash up buildings with a sledgehammer. A sequel, Red Faction: Armageddon, adopted in 2011, however gross sales have been poor and then-publisher THQ canceled additional follow-ups. Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered, a remaster of Guerrilla, launched in 2019.
Unfortunately, regardless of the pitches to Plaion, this new Red Faction was not greenlit, and in November final yr it was canceled outright. According to RPS, Fishlabs studio management have been advised to put off virtually everybody not connected to an energetic recreation undertaking, leading to 50 job losses. The RPS article is effectively value a learn in order for you some perception into what it was like working at an Embracer-owned studio in 2023.
In April, Embracer introduced its intent to separate into three separate corporations: Asmodee Group, Coffee Stain & Friends, and Middle-earth Enterprises & Friends. The transfer got here after a brutal interval of restructuring that over a thousand employees lose their jobs, a number of video games canceled and studios shut down, and the sale of builders together with Borderlands maker Gearbox and Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic remake maker Saber Interactive.
Embracer Group’s monetary struggles started following the collapse of a $2 billion deal, reportedly with Saudi authorities funded firm Savvy Games Group. The Swedish agency has since come below hearth for the sweeping cuts that adopted its ill-fated acquisition spree. In January it emerged that Embracer had canceled a brand new Deus Ex recreation that was two years in growth and laid off some employees at Eidos Montreal. Most just lately, Embracer shut down Pieces Interactive after the Alone within the Dark reboot flopped.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
