Embracer Group is leaving Onoma, formerly Square Enix Montreal.
One month after the name change, Onoma officially ceases operations. The Canadian studio was founded in 2011 with the goal of releasing premium games for publisher Square Enix such as Hitman Sniper, Hitman Sniper: The Shadows, and Tomb Raider Reloaded before moving on to free-to-play titles. It was on mobile that the late Square Enix Montreal had its greatest success, creating step-by-step adaptations of existing licenses such as Hitman Go, Lara Croft Go, and Deus Ex Go.
Embracer-owned CDE Entertainment shuts down Square Enix Montreal six months after acquisition and three weeks after rebranding to Onoma https://t.co/bf5R9gcIur
— GamesIndustry (@GIBiz) November 1, 2022
Phil Rogers, head of CDE Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Embracer Group that holds assets acquired from Square Enix, said:
With the possibility of a twelfth operating group within the Embracer Group, we have big ambitions for Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montréal. We see growth opportunities associated with our core franchises and our AAA games. The decision to end quality control and close our Onoma studio was a difficult one, but one we made with great care and consideration. We sincerely thank all team members (note: at least 200 employees) for their contributions over the years and look forward to finding suitable reassignment solutions for as many of them as possible.
Embracer Group refocuses on Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montreal
The Onoma studio shutdown is reportedly part of a cost-cutting initiative led by the Embracer Group that also forced Eidos-Montréal to wind down an unannounced project and cancel another one known as a Stranger Things-inspired game. In addition to working on new intellectual property, a new Deus Ex is in preparation (prototyping phase) and co-development agreements have been signed with various publishers/studios in the video game industry, including Microsoft, for the Fable reboot from Playground Games, an Xbox subsidiary. game studios.
End of Onoma, Embracer Group’s first failure since takeover
Swedish giant Embracer Group announced last May that it had agreed to acquire most of Square Enix’s Western development department for $300 million, including Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, Square Enix Montreal and the IP catalog including Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and Thief, and completed the acquisition on 26 August. Finally, Square Enix Montreal only announced their name change to Onoma on October 3rd.