Crystal Dynamics undergoes more layoffs, but Tomb Raider development continues

Crystal Dynamics has had a rough few months. Following the cancellation of Perfect Dark, which Crystal Dynamics was the primary developer for, the studio was forced to cut a sizable number of developers from the team. Now just a short while later, the company has had to let go of more employees. 

Crystal Dynamics is undergoing its fourth round of lay-offs in just two years. This time around, the company has announced plans to let go of 30 employees as part of a ‘restructuring' effort.

The company claims the cuts were made to “optimise the continued development” of Tomb Raider, the studio's flagship franchise. If we take out the marketing spin, then we can gather that the next Tomb Raider game is not close to release, and Crystal Dynamics simply had more employees than it needed at this point in the project's lifespan.

The next Tomb Raider game was greenlit a couple of years ago, shortly after Embracer Group acquired Crystal Dynamics and the Tomb Raider IP from Square Enix. While Embracer continues to own Crystal Dynamics and by extension, Tomb Raider, it is actually Amazon Games that will be publishing the next game in the series. This is notable, as Amazon Games also underwent a massive round of lay-offs last month, leading to the cancellation of multiple projects, and the shelving of New World, the company's only successfully released game.

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KitGuru Says: If you've been looking forward to the return of Tomb Raider, it sounds like you'll be waiting a few more years at least. 

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