The hopes for a revival of the cult vampire series Legacy Of Kain have been dashed once again. This comes as developer Eidos-Montréal undergoes a new round of layoffs and reportedly cancels multiple projects, including a reboot of the beloved dark fantasy franchise.
Studio Shift and Project Cancellations
Following similar cuts at sister studio Crystal Dynamics last month, Eidos-Montréal has laid off around a dozen employees. The studio, acquired by the Embracer Group in 2022, is now firmly transitioning into a support role for other companies' games. It is currently assisting on Grounded 2 and the upcoming Fable reboot for Xbox.
The news of a cancelled Legacy Of Kain project surfaced from a Reddit post, where users found references to a scrapped dark fantasy action RPG on the CVs of former Eidos employees. One description pointed to a project 'focused on reviving an established vampire IP'.
According to a report by Insider Gaming, this reboot was indeed in development but was cancelled several years ago, shortly after Embracer's acquisition in 2022. The project had only been in development for about a year before being axed. The Legacy Of Kain intellectual property was subsequently transferred to Crystal Dynamics.
A History of Failed Revivals
This marks the second major attempt to resurrect Legacy Of Kain that has failed to materialise. A report from as far back as 2013 suggested that at least ten potential games in the series had been cancelled over a 20-year period.
Since the 2022 acquisition, Eidos-Montréal has reportedly abandoned upwards of eight projects. This casualty list may also include a new entry in the Deus Ex series, which was rumoured to be in very early development around the same time.
While remasters of Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver and its sequel were released last year, these were handled by a different studio, Aspyr. Given the current layoffs and strategic shift, these releases are extremely unlikely to lead to a new game.
Broader Industry Turmoil Under Embracer
The situation reflects wider instability within the Embracer Group's portfolio. The conglomerate has been repeatedly criticised for its management strategy, which involved aggressive acquisitions during the pandemic boom without clear plans for the studios.
The result has been a consistent pattern of layoffs, cancelled games, and studio closures, including the shutdown of Saints Row developer Volition. Crystal Dynamics, also owned by Embracer, lost over 30 staff last month and its new Tomb Raider project has shown little public progress since its 2021 announcement.
In a candid admission last year, Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors told GamesIndustry.biz, "I'm sure I deserve a lot of criticism, but I don't think my team or companies deserve all the criticism. I could take a lot of that blame myself."
With both Eidos and Crystal Dynamics struggling, some observers suggest the best hope for the developers may be to follow the example of Saber Interactive and buy their independence back from Embracer. In a recent similar move, Netflix-owned studio Spry Fox successfully bought itself out this month after being acquired in 2022.
