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Alone in the Dark dev Pieces lays off staff following revival's release

The remake of the original Alone in the Dark only just released this past March, but parent company Embracer's not said much about its sales.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

April 23, 2024

1 Min Read
Jodie Comer and David Harbour in the 2024 game Alone in the Dark.
Image via Pieces Interactive/THQNordic.

Over a month after releasing Alone in the Dark, developer Pieces Interactive appears to be laying off an unknown number of staff.

Environment artist Helena Hansen confirmed she was affected, saying her "heart breaks for myself and my coworkers right now." At time of writing, she's the only developer who's confirmed their status.

Alone in the Dark released back in March to a mixed reception. The game was previously delayed twice, both to avoid 2023's heavy release cadence and then crunching over the holidays.

To date, neither THQNordic (or parent company Embracer) have commented on its sales. What is known is these reductions are isolated to Pieces alone, since Embracer ended its restructuring plans in late March.

Recently, Embracer split itself off into three standalone companies to make itself look less...Embracer. It's presently unclear which of those companies Pieces (or just the Alone in the Dark IP itself) falls under.

The Sweden-based studio has previously developed the Magicka series, along with Kill to Collect and the two Titan Quest games.

Game Developer has reached out to THQ Nordic for comment, and will update when a response is given.

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About the Author(s)

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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