(MT Newswires) -- Embracer Group, a Swedish video game conglomerate, is rumoured to be planning to sell one of its largest subsidiaries, Saber, to a group of private investors in a deal worth up to $500 million. This follows a series of acquisitions in the video game industry in 2021, when interest rates were low. However, as the economic climate changed, Embracer initiated cost-cutting measures, resulting in studio closures and redundancies. This sale is the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures.

The video games industry as a whole is under pressure, as evidenced by the redundancies at Sony and EA, which have cut 900 and over 600 jobs respectively. These redundancies are partly due to rapid expansion during the pandemic, followed by contraction when growth failed to meet post-pandemic expectations.

Rockstar Games, the studio behind Grand Theft Auto, has asked its employees to return to the office five days a week from April. The decision is partly motivated by security concerns, including leaked content from the upcoming Grand Theft Auto game. Some theories suggest that the compulsory return to the office could be a strategy to reduce headcount without official redundancies, although there is no concrete evidence to support this idea.

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