German Dev Piranha Bytes Latest Studio to Close Under Embracer | Push Square

pushsquare.com:

German developer Piranha Bytes is the latest studio to close under Embracer, and it is best known for RPGs like Gothic, ELEX, and Risen. The closure comes less than six months after the studio took to Twitter to seek a publisher for its next title as it worked through a «difficult situation».

First reported by Polish-language gaming site CD Action (thanks, PC Gamer), the outlet quoted a former employee saying the studio had closed at the end of July, with Embracer unable to find a buyer. Shortly after that, former Piranha Bytes creative director Bjorn Pankratz, along with his wife and fellow studio veteran Jeniffer Pankratz, announced the launch of a new indie initiative called Pithead Studio.

In a message posted to the Pithead Studio Discord, further information can be gleaned: «As you sure noticed, the gaming industry was not doing well last year. This was also the case for the Embracer Group, to which THQ Nordic and Piranha Bytes belong. A lot of studios had to close, and thousands of people in the gaming industry worldwide lost their jobs. Sadly, Piranha Bytes was also affected by this.» In a separate message, it is noted that Gothic, ELEX, and Risen remain the property of THQ Nordic, the Embracer label under which Piranha Bytes operated.

«We are in a difficult situation»

Are you surprised to see the Embracer closure train keep on rolling some seven months into 2024? In the comments section below, pour one out for Piranha Bytes.

Khayl Adam is Push Square's roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the richest, most succulent PlayStation stories. With five years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.

It sad that people are losing their job, but nothing of value was really lost...

@zhoont Good catch, updated

Embracer is a cancer.

Another victim of Embracer :/

Embrace