Eidos Montreal is in serious trouble, and new reporting from Tom Henderson reveals just how bad things have gotten. The studio is preparing to release an ambitious open-world action-adventure game codenamed Project 11 (or P11) in 2026, developed by the team behind the rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy. Sounds promising, except for one devastating detail: the studio is currently prototyping Project 22, meaning they’ve cancelled or shelved roughly 10 projects between what they’re finishing and what they’re starting. That’s an absurd gap that speaks to years of dysfunction under Embracer Group ownership.
What Is Project 11
Project 11 has reportedly been in development since 2019, making it a six-year project by the time it launches. It’s described as an ambitious open-world third-person action-adventure game being developed by the team responsible for the critically acclaimed Tomb Raider reboot trilogy (Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider). The team has experience creating large-scale action games with exploration and narrative depth, so the pedigree is there.
However, insiders quoted by Tom Henderson claim this game has “no chance of recouping costs.” That’s a brutal assessment for a project that’s consumed six years of development resources. The game is directly connected to the significant layoffs the studio has experienced, with sources indicating more job cuts are planned immediately after Project 11 ships. At least a dozen employees were laid off in late November alone, and the studio previously cut 75 positions in March 2025 and 97 workers in early 2024.
The Graveyard of Cancelled Projects
The gap between Project 11 and Project 22 represents a staggering amount of wasted work and creative potential. Recent reporting has shed light on some of what was cancelled. Eidos Montreal was developing a dark fantasy action RPG focused on melee combat and parkour that would have rebooted the Legacy of Kain vampire franchise. They were also working on a sci-fi stealth game that insiders believe was a new Deus Ex installment, a franchise beloved by fans who have been waiting years for a sequel to 2016’s Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
Other cancelled projects include a 3v3 competitive esports game set in a futuristic setting and a modern point-and-click adventure with turn-based combat. All of these internal projects have been shelved as the studio shifts focus entirely to outsourcing work. Currently, Eidos Montreal is supporting development on Grounded 2 for Obsidian Entertainment and Fable for Playground Games. A team of over 100 people worked on Fable from 2022 until early 2025, when Microsoft chose not to extend their contract.
How Embracer Destroyed Eidos
Embracer Group acquired Eidos Montreal (along with Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix Montreal) from Square Enix in 2022 for $300 million, a deal that included iconic franchises like Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Thief, and Legacy of Kain. At the time, it seemed like these beloved studios might finally get the resources and freedom to create the games fans wanted. Instead, Embracer’s catastrophic mismanagement has nearly destroyed them.
The collapse of a $2 billion financing deal in 2023 sent Embracer into crisis mode, resulting in multiple studio closures and nearly 1,400 layoffs as of February 2024. That number has grown considerably since. Embracer announced the end of its restructuring in March 2024 after selling Gearbox to Take-Two Interactive for less than half what they paid for it, yet layoffs and closures continued. In May 2025, Embracer announced yet another round of restructuring, and studios like Eidos Montreal and Crystal Dynamics have been bleeding talent ever since.
What Happens Next
The situation at Eidos Montreal looks grim. The studio has not released an original game since Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in 2021, which was a critical success but reportedly underperformed commercially. Since then, the studio has been trapped in a cycle of cancelled projects, layoffs, and support work for other developers. Project 11 represents their last chance to prove they can deliver, but insiders are already predicting failure.
If Project 11 does launch in 2026 and underperforms as predicted, more layoffs are planned immediately afterward. At that point, Eidos Montreal may become a permanent support studio with no internal projects at all, or Embracer could shut it down entirely. It’s a tragic fate for a studio that created some of the most innovative and critically acclaimed games of the past decade, including the Deus Ex: Human Revolution series and the modern Tomb Raider trilogy.
FAQs
What is Project 11 at Eidos Montreal?
Project 11 (or P11) is an ambitious open-world third-person action-adventure game being developed by the Tomb Raider team at Eidos Montreal. The game has been in development since 2019 and is scheduled to release in 2026.
Why are so many projects cancelled at Eidos Montreal?
Eidos Montreal is currently prototyping Project 22 while finishing Project 11, meaning approximately 10 projects were cancelled or shelved in between. This mass cancellation is attributed to Embracer Group’s financial difficulties following the collapse of a $2 billion financing deal in 2023.
Was a new Deus Ex game cancelled?
Yes. Eidos Montreal was working on a sci-fi stealth game that insiders believe was a new Deus Ex installment. The project was cancelled in early 2024. Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier had previously reported in 2022 that the studio was developing a new Deus Ex game.
What happened to the Legacy of Kain reboot?
Eidos Montreal was developing a dark fantasy action RPG focused on melee combat and parkour that would have rebooted the Legacy of Kain franchise. This project has been cancelled. The game would have featured vampires and was described as an ARPG.
How many people have been laid off at Eidos Montreal?
At least a dozen employees were laid off in late November 2025, 75 people were cut in March 2025, and 97 workers lost their jobs in early 2024. More layoffs are reportedly planned after Project 11 and their outsourcing contracts are completed.
What games is Eidos Montreal currently working on?
Eidos Montreal is finishing Project 11 for a 2026 release and providing support work for Grounded 2 (Obsidian Entertainment) and Fable (Playground Games). The Fable contract ended in early 2025, though it’s unclear if that work is completely finished.
Will Project 11 be successful?
Insider sources quoted by Tom Henderson claim Project 11 has “no chance of recouping costs” despite being in development for six years. If accurate, this suggests the game is unlikely to be commercially successful even if it’s critically well-received.
Conclusion
Eidos Montreal’s situation is a perfect case study in how corporate greed destroys creative studios. Embracer bought them for prestigious IP and decades of development expertise, then immediately drove them into the ground through catastrophic financial mismanagement. The gap between Project 11 and Project 22 represents years of cancelled dreams, abandoned franchises, and talented developers pushed out the door. Fans waiting for a new Deus Ex or Legacy of Kain game can basically give up hope at this point. Project 11 might be the last original game Eidos Montreal ever releases, and insiders are already calling it a commercial failure before it even launches. It’s a depressing end for a studio that once defined what action-adventure games could be.