Embracer has closed Alone in the Dark studio Pieces Interactive

Alone in the Dark protagonists
(Image credit: THQ Nordic)

Pieces Interactive, the developer of the Alone in the Dark reboot that launched earlier this year, has been shut down by parent company Embracer Group.

Word of the closure came via Pieces Interactive's Twitter feed, which posted an image containing the studio's logo and the message "Pieces Interactive: 2007-2024. Thanks for playing with us."

The studio's website now carries the same image, as well as a longer message detailing the studio's history since its founding in 2007. "In 2017, Pieces Interactive were acquired by Embracer Group after working with the expansion for Titan Quest, Titan Quest: Ragnarök and third expansion for Titan Quest, Titan Quest: Atlantis," the message says. "Our last release was the reimagining of Alone in the Dark."

Pieces Interactive's Alone in the Dark reboot was good stuff. We called it "an intelligent reimagining of the 1992 classic" in our 76% review that, despite bugs and some occasional over-reliance on combat, delivered "the best Alone in the Dark game since 1992."

Despite that, the game apparently didn't sell very well. In Embracer's 2023-24 full year financial report, the company said sales of Alone in the Dark were "softer than expected," and "performed below management expectations."

Embracer's THQ Nordic division confirmed with PC Gamer that Pieces Interactive has been closed, but declined to comment further. 

(Image credit: Pieces Interactive)

The closure comes just three days after Galvanic Games announced its own shutdown due to inadequate sales of its most recent release, Wizard with a Gun; June has also seen layoffs and studio closures at Behaviour Interactive, Sumo Group, and Avalanche.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
Minute of Islands
Just 2 weeks before the release of its next game, another studio falls victim to the relentless drive to be 'agile'
Mechwarrior 5: Clans
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans 'performed below projections'
Citizens talking about life in Frostpunk 2
Frostpunk 2 developer 11 bit studios cancels unannounced project and lays off employees
Anya Chalotra in Unknown 9: Awakening
Action adventure game Unknown 9: Awakening was a 'failure,' says developer, which has cancelled a follow-up project and laid off staff
rumbleverse
Iron Galaxy lays off 66 employees in a 'last resort' effort to 'enable our long term survival'
Dark Alliance
Ill-fated co-op slasher Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance disappears in February, though will still be playable solo
Latest in Gaming Industry
Yoda Luke and R2 in Lego form.
Lego is going to make its videogames in-house from now on, says it would 'almost rather overinvest'
A masked man with an axe in the woods
Rebellion CEO seems kind of awed by major studios making massive videogames: 'How do you organize a game that has 2,000 people working on it?'
A computer screen with program code warning of a detected malware script program. 3d illustration
Coder faces 10 years' jailtime for creating a 'kill switch' that screwed-up his employers' systems when he was laid off
Atomfall screenshot
Rebellion CEO puts the studio's recent avoidance of layoffs down to control of scope and cost: 'Sometimes we say, guys, this game's too big'
Judge Dredd promotional image in Warzone
Half-a-dozen 2000AD games were in the works before fizzling out: 'The games you get to see are a tiny representative of the number that get started—sadly'
sniper elite 5 cover
Sniper Elite CEO reckons Swen Vincke is right to snarl at short-sighted publishers: 'You could argue that their business at senior level isn't making games… their business is managing their shareholders' perceptions'
Latest in News
Naoe looking at the wrist blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft backflips, says Assassin's Creed Shadows will support Steam Deck at launch, but I doubt I'll actually want to play it there
Henry from KCD2 wearing nice outfits
'Diversify your fashion endgame' with this Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 mod that gives Henry fly new gambesons, pourpoints, and caftans
Masked Counter-Terrorist in helmet in forefront with sunglasses and beret-wearing CT in background touching headset
There's hope yet for Classic Offensive after its Steam rejection: The team behind the Counter-Strike 1.6 revival mod is in touch with Valve about its 'concerns'
Recently appointed Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
Here comes Intel's new CEO: a semiconductor veteran that won the same prestigious award as Jensen Huang and Lisa Su
BURBANK, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 15: Protestors attend the SAG-AFTRA Video Game Strike Picket on August 15, 2024 in Burbank, California. (Photo by Lila Seeley/Getty Images)
8 months into their strike, videogame voice actors say the industry's latest proposal is 'filled with alarming loopholes that will leave our members vulnerable to AI abuse'
Orithopter shooting down another in Dune
Dune: Awakening confirms air-to-air combat in ornithopters