Canadian developer Eidos Montréal has laid off 75 employees. The studio announced the news with the following message shared on social media channels:
Today, we informed our studio staff that we are going to let go up to 75 valuable members, as one of our mandates is coming to an end. It is not a reflection of their dedication or skills, but unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to entirely reallocate them to our other ongoing projects and services. These very talented, highly experienced experts are going to enter the employment market, and we are working to support them through this transition. Eidos Montréal stays committed to deliver its other projects currently in development.
Besides the unfortunate (albeit sadly common in the industry lately) fact that people are losing their jobs, the message's wording is definitely interesting. Eidos Montréal singled out the end of a specific work commission as the cause of the layoffs, and the mind cannot but go to the announcement that the developer had been helping out Playground Games with the Fable reboot. While the game was delayed to 2026 earlier this year, it was originally supposed to launch in 2025. It's possible and even likely that Fable is now content complete and Playground Games simply does not need any further help from the Canadian studio as it approaches the polishing phase.
Still, it's unfortunate that Eidos Montréal could not reassign those employees to its other projects. This is not the studio's only recent round of layoffs; it also had to cut 97 employees in January 2024 following the cancellation of a new Deus Ex game. It is unclear what else the studio might be working on right now; its latest game is still the underrated Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.
Last week, sister studio Crystal Dynamics, which worked closely with Eidos Montréal on projects like Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Marvel's Avengers, also announced the removal of 17 employees. Crystal Dynamics is also helping out with the reboot of a Microsoft-owned IP, Perfect Dark, in collaboration with The Initiative.
