Tomb Raider Studio Announces Fourth Round of Layoffs in a Year

Crystal Dynamics announced on March 18 that it was cutting 20 people, marking its fourth round of layoffs in a year. The move follows 30 staff let go last November, an unspecified number cut last August, and 17 people dismissed last March. Once at a headcount of 273 in 2022, the studio has faced multiple rounds of downsizing amid mismanagement at parent company Embracer and Microsoft’s cancellation of Perfect Dark last year, which Crystal Dynamics had been co-developing with The Initiative.

The studio, also known for 2020’s live-service Marvel’s Avengers, recently revealed Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst at The Game Awards 2025 and says those projects will remain unaffected. Both titles are in active development: Legacy of Atlantis is an Unreal Engine 5 remake of the 1996 original scheduled to launch later this year, while Catalyst is a new entry that aims to take the series’ action-adventure puzzle formula into a more open-world format and has no firm release date beyond 2027.

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