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There is one big corporation full of investors that has made a lot of acquisitions in the last couple of years: Embracer Group, which has bought studios like Thq Nordic, Crystal Dynamics, Gearbox, and many more. Unfortunately, all the games from these studios were not successful at all, so Embracer Group decided to start making some changes, which meant a lot of layoffs and even the complete closure of studios.

This was not well received by players, making this company one of the most hated in the industry, but the founder of one of its former studios, Saber Interactive, asked not to attack Embracer that much.

Saber Interactive’s founder really stands with Embracer Group, asking the community not to be so harsh on this company Embracer Group is defended by the founder of Saber Interactive.

Embracer Group has hundreds of studios and subsidiaries in gaming, including names like Thq Nordic,...

Embracer Group has been in a lot of trouble since the past year, when it began a restructuring program in June 2023 that saw several job cuts and studio closures. The company said that this program would make it a leaner, stronger, and more self-sufficient company.

And if that wasn’t enough, the company has now announced that the restructuring program is in its final stretch and will be completed by March 2024, but it has warned that more job cuts could be coming as it looks to sell off assets and that its main priority is “always” the shareholders.

Embracer Group Warns of More Job Cuts Despite Already Laying Off Staff in Masses

Embracer Group warns that more layoffs could be coming as it looks for more divestment.

Embracer Group revealed in its Q3 2023 earnings results on February 15, 2024, that it could sell more assets as part of the restructuring program as...

Between July and December 2023, Embracer Group cancelled 29 unannounced games, as confirmed by the firm’s latest financial report.

After a period of aggressive expansion earlier in the 2020s, the Swedish industry giant Embracer Group had a major financial wobble in 2023. The result has seen a huge number of job losses and studio closures, and now, thanks to the company’s latest financial report, we know that Embracer also cancelled 29 games between July and December 2023.

As reported by Vgc, Embracer had a total of 153 unannounced games in the works at the various studios under its banner as of June 2023; by December that year, the number had tumbled to 124. Doing a quick bit of maths, that means 29 projects vanished at various points in that six month period.

We heard in January that a previously unannounced Deus Ex sequel, in the works at Eidos Montreal, had been scrapped by Embracer.

Those cancellations came...

A Deus Ex videogame sequel has been cancelled by the Embracer Group, with 97 staff also laid off at developer Eidos Montreal.

At some point in the near future, there ought to be a book written about Swedish media company Embracer Group and its impact on the videogame industry.

For now, we’ll simply focus on the latest sorry episode in an ongoing saga: it’s been announced that Embracer has abruptly cancelled a Deus Ex game in development at Eidos Montreal – a project the studio had been working on for about two years. At the same time, 97 staff have been laid off – a figure later confirmed by Eidos Montreal in a statement.

“The global economic context, the challenges of our industry and the comprehensive restructuring announced by Embracer have finally impacted our studio,” Eidos Montreal wrote, as reported by Eurogamer. “The difficult decision has been made to let go 97 people from development teams,...

Staff have taken to social media to report that Free Radical Design, the British studio behind TimeSplitters and more, has closed. Its website has also been taken offline.

Little more than a month on from November’s report that Nottingham-based studio Free Radical Design was to close, staff have begun to announce on Twitter that the axe has indeed fallen on the company.

As reported by Eurogamer, several artists and designers have now confirmed that the studio behind the TimeSplitters series of shooters has shut down.

Senior tech artist Adam Kiraly wrote on X/Twitter, “The last day at [Free Radical] was very different from what I imagined. I don’t think it sunk in properly just yet, but handed my keys in and left the building the last time.”

Not long after, it was then noted by several outlets that Free Radical’s website has been taken down, with its main page currently reading,...

Here’s your first look at the official World Premiere Trailer of filmmaker Neill Blomkamp’s upcoming horror/sci-fi film, Demonic.

The film uses a patent-pending new method of using volumetric capture (a three-dimensional video technology that turns actors into geometric objects.). The amount of volumetric capture in Demonic is the most ever seen in a feature film.

Demonic – Volumetric Capture 2

When Carly Spenser (Carly Pope) learns that her estranged mother Angela (Nathalie Boltt) has fallen into a coma, she reluctantly agrees to take part in a cutting-edge therapy that will allow her to tap into Angela’s still-active brain and communicate with her. Observed by physician Michael (Michael J. Rogers) and neuroscientist Daniel (Terry Chen), she enters a harrowing simulation of Angela’s mindscape where she discovers the powerful supernatural force that

drove her mother to commit unspeakable acts of violence nearly two decades earlier. Afterward, haunted by terrifying visions,...

Stars: Adrian Glynn McMorran, Magda Apanowicz, John Cassini, Aleks Paunovic, Frank Cassini, Bill Marchant | Written by Tony Dean Smith, Ryan W. Smith | Directed by Tony Dean Smith

Less all-out horror and more a sci-fi thriller, Volition tells the story of James, who sees his mother die in a car crash in a vision two days before it actually happens. Unable to stop it because no-one will believe him, twenty-odd years later he has come out of the foster care system struggling with life because he knows everything is predestined. He then sees his own death and follows a path that he hopes will stop it.

Volition manages to have an interesting, captivating and detailed story that could easily get really confusing but because of how well the film is edited and made, is surprisingly easy to follow. We head back and forth in time, always leading back to present day...

Available in Theaters and On Digital Platforms on July 10, 2020 Giant Pictures has acquired the U.S. rights to the sci-fi/thriller Volition. The film will be released in theaters, on Apple TV, Prime Video and other Digital Platforms on July 10, 2020. Volition is the feature directorial debut for Tony Dean Smith (Rakka), who co-wrote …

The post Giant Pictures Acquires “Volition” appeared first on Hnn | Horrornews.net.

When people know their life is predetermined, it’s often hard for them to care about their choices and their subsequent consequences. That’s certainly the case for actor Adrian Glynn McMorran’s struggling protagonist, James Odin, in the new thriller, ‘Volition.’ The social and cerebral sci-fi tale forces the struggling character to reconsider his beliefs and future […]

The post Interview: Adrian McGlynn McMorran Talks Volition (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.

The remaining two games included with July’s Games With Gold promotion are now available to download completely free for all Xbox Live Gold subscribers.

In case you missed the memo earlier this month, Microsoft confirmed the four games that are being given away throughout midsummer as Wrc 8, Dunk Lords, Juju and Saints Row 2. Unlike the first three, however, Volition’s open-world action-adventure sequel was only scheduled to be free until July 15th, meaning you’ll either need to wait for it to go on sale elsewhere or pay full price if you still want to pick it up.

As for the rest, you can find all the important dates of availability as well as a description of each title, courtesy of their respective developer, down below.

Wrc 8: July 1 – July 31 on Xbox One Dunk Lords: July 16 – August 15 on Xbox One Juju: July 16 – July 31 on Xbox One and Xbox 360

Dunk...

After witnessing his own murder in the future, a clairvoyant man has no choice but to change his destiny in the new sci-fi thriller Volition. With the film out now on Apple TV, Prime Video, and other Digital platforms via Giant Pictures, we caught up with co-writer/director/co-producer Tony Dean Smith and co-writer/producer Ryan W. Smith in a new Q&a feature to discuss how real-life epiphanies shaped the movie's story, filming grueling night shoots in Vancouver, and collaborating with friends and family to make their movie a reality.

Thanks for taking the time to catch up with us, and congratulations on Volition! How and when did you come up with the idea for this film?

Tony Dean Smith: The kernel for Volition came to me in film school. Back then it was a short film about a scientist who was always late, but who then stumbles upon...

In “Volition,” an action/science fiction hybrid, Adrian Glynn McMorran plays a guy who can see into the future. “Precognition,” he calls it. It’s too bad McMorran couldn’t tap into those same powers of prophecy to save himself from taking this messy role.

When the story begins, James (McMorran) is sorting out a series of future events that pop into his head. He imagines his scruffy landlord badgering him for rent…a woman… a couple of old friends…diamonds… a gunshot.

Continue reading ‘Volition’: Tony Dean Smith’s Sci-Fi Thriller Is A Convoluted, Time-Hopping Mess [Review] at The Playlist.

Snarled loops of time travel have proved a surprisingly versatile and rewarding fantasy-cinema trope in recent years, from the big-budget likes of “Edge of Tomorrow” to such enterprising indies as “Predestination,” not to mention comedies (“Palm Springs”), horror (“Happy Death Day”), romance (“Before I Fall”) and more. “Volition” makes a worthy addition to that roster: . Tony Dean Smith’s clever thriller lands July 10 on digital platforms and available theater screens, where it should continue to be as well-received by sci-fi fans as it has been on the genre-festival circuit.

Living above an auto shop, lagging on rent, his appearance an unpromising cross between aging hipster and Ratso Rizzo, James aka Jimmy (Adrian Glynn McMorran) exudes a scraping-by vibe unimproved by his landlord’s eviction threats. If he feels like he’s “stuck watching the rerun” of his own life, that turns out to be for very good reason. Before we quite suss why,...

Director Tony Dean Smith co-wrote his latest feature Volition with his brother Ryan W. Smith, and when there is a sense of existential dread in one’s narrative, it’s good to have a loved one around for support!

James (Adrian Glynn McMorran) is able to see fragments of the future as he goes about his day, and [...]

The post Filmmakers Tony Dean Smith And Ryan W. Smith Find “Magic” With ‘Volition’ Collaboration appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.

"Maybe it's time you learn the truth about your condition." Giant Pictures has debuted an official trailer for an indie sci-fi thriller titled Volition, which won the Best Feature award at the Philip K. Dick Film Festival last year. The word "volition" means "a choice or decision made by the will"; making the choice for yourself. The film is about a man afflicted with clairvoyance who tries to change his fate when a series of events leads to a vision of his own imminent murder. An interesting twist. It's described as a "tightly-wound puzzle of a ride", and a "mind-bending science-fiction thriller, where the line between fate and free-will blurs." Starring Adrian Glynn McMorran, Magda Apanowicz, John Cassini, Frank Cassini, Aleks Paunovic, and Bill Marchant. Not really sure what to make of this from this trailer, there's a lot going on but not a lot of it makes sense at first.

A man afflicted with clairvoyance tries to change his fate when a series of events leads to a vision of his own imminent murder in Volition. Check out the trailer:

From the Smith Brothers and Director Tony Dean Smith comes Volition — a mind-bending science-fiction thriller, where the line between fate and free-will blurs.

When you know your world is predetermined, it’s hard to care about your choices. This is true for James Odin. On a rain-soaked night in 1991, two cars collide, leaving all drivers dead on the scene, including the mother of the lone survivor — a child — James Odin. It’s a tragedy. But what’s more tragic is that seven-year-old James foresaw the accident happening two months prior. He tried to prevent it, but who’s going to believe a kid who claims to see the future? Twenty-plus years later, James is a product of the failed foster care system.

If you could see the future, would that mean everything was predetermined? And if that was the case, what would you do if you foresaw your own murder? Well, while you ponder that, check out our exclusive trailer debut for Volition, a new sci-fi thriller about a man with the "affliction" of clairvoyance who has to try to change his future when he witnesses his own death. The film made the genre festival round last year, cleaning up with a slew of festival awards on the way, and now Giant Pictures is unleashing the "time bending sci-fi thriller" …...

With democracy under attack and the climate crisis unsolved, there’s an ever-growing sense that humanity may be nearing its extinction. Where did it all go wrong? Were we to revisit the past 10, 50, or 100 years from now, would we know where to look for answers? Would we know what to do if we found them?

The hard-nosed soldiers in Tom Paton’s Stairs certainly don’t. Following a difficult operation during which they forswore their humanity for the sake of obeying orders, their debriefing takes an introspective turn when their nine-strong platoon is pursued up an unending staircase by the spectre of a civilian they killed in cold blood.

Before her execution, the prisoner gives the group some ominous, prescient advice: don’t go down. Those that do are swiftly chewed up. Those that don’t, climb, up and up until their boots fill with blood, frantically seeking a way...

Stars: Adrian Glynn McMorran, Magda Apanowicz, John Cassini, Aleks Paunovic, Frank Cassini, Bill Marchant | Written by Tony Dean Smith, Ryan W. Smith | Directed by Tony Dean Smith

Less all-out horror and more a sci-fi thriller, Volition still fits nicely alongside the rest of this year’s varied Frightfest line-up… James sees his mother die in a car crash in a vision two days before it actually happens. Unable to stop it because no-one will believe him, twenty-odd years later he has come out of the foster care system struggling with life because he knows everything is predestined. He then sees his own death and follows a path that he hopes will stop it.

Volition manages to have an interesting, captivating and detailed story that could easily get really confusing but because of how well the film is edited and made, is surprisingly easy to follow. We head back and forth in time,...