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Pieces Interactive is sadly no more. The developer best known for the Alone in the Dark reimagining which was released back in March 2024 has been officially shut down by their parent companies Embracer and THQ Nordic, who added another game developer to the pile of closed studios over the last twelve months.
Embracer laid off over 1,400 people, closed over seven studios and shut down 29 projects in 2023 and 2024. In a statement on their official website, Pieces thanked the players for playing their games since 2007, when the studio was established.
Since then, Pieces released over ten titles across PC, consoles and mobile. Some of these games include Puzzlegeddon, Robo Surf and the more recent Alone in the Dark. The team also provided support development on various projects with a client list including Koei Tecmo, Paradox Interactive and Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios.
Pieces Interactive were acquired by Embracer Group in 2017 after their work on expansions Titan Quest: Ragnarok and Titan Quest: Atlantis for the iconic action RPG Titan Quest.
According to the information on LinkedIn, Pieces Interactive had around 50 employees. At the moment, it's not clear if the entire team were laid off or moved to other studios under Embracer but judging by Embracer's recent practice, I think it's probably the former.
One of the reasons for the studio closure is probably the poor reception and sales of Alone in the Dark. The game scored only 64 out of 100 on Open Critic, which was certainly disappointing for the studio. Embracer also confirmed after the launch that Alone in the Dark failed to meet expectations with "softer-than-expected performance".
In our review, we gave Alone in the Dark a 75 out of 100, praising the game's story, sound design and a couple of other elements so if you're a horror fan there is something for you here. However, if you're looking for a rich gameplay experience then you probably want to look elsewhere.
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