Embracer Group Shuts Down Square Enix Montreal Studio Just Months After Acquiring It

According to a BloombergReport: Embracer, the videogame publisher, has closed down Onoma (formerly Square Enix Montreal), just months after it was acquired. Embracer has also acquired Eidos Montreal as another Embracer studio. Some employees will move to Eidos Montreal. This announcement comes only a few weeks following Onoma’s rebranding where it changed its name.

Onoma is best-known for creating the Go series. These are turn-based spinoffs from popular Eidos Interactive mobile titles. These include Hitman Go and Lara Croft. Tomb Raider Reloaded was their most recent project, and it came out on mobile earlier in the year. Their future plans included a title that is based on. Avatar of The Last Airbender.

Earlier this year, Onoma was just one part of a much larger series of Embracer’s acquisitions, which included Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montreal. Embracer purchased Limited Run Games (tripwire interactive), Tuxedo Labs, the IP Rights to The Lord of the Rings (the Hobbit), and many other studios in August.

The BloombergReport also states that Eidos Montreal’s closure will result in projects being scaled back or cut. Playground Games, which is leading the Fable series of games will use some of these funds for the development.

[Source: Bloomberg]

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