Sega cancels multiplayer shooter Hyenas at the last minute

Sega announced on Thursday that it’s canceling multiplayer shooter Hyenas. Citing “lower profitability of the European region,” the company said it would also shutter other unannounced titles under development.

According to Sega, it will “implement reduction of various fixed expenses” at Hyenas developer Creative Assembly. Unfortunately, that sounds like corporate jargon for “layoffs” at the studio, also known for Total War and Alien: Isolation.

Sega also braced investors for a loss in the current fiscal year. “As a result of implementation of the structural reform described above in Consumer area, we expect to record losses of approximately 14.3 billion yen for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024,” Sega wrote. Engadget reached out to Creative Assembly and will update this article if we receive a comment.

Creative Assembly / Sega

Creative Assembly staff allegedly learned about the game’s cancellation today at the same time Sega issued its statement, according to IGN. Yanking Hyenas so close to its scheduled launch was reportedly a shock to employees at the UK-based developer, although there was apparently internal concern at the studio about the game’s prospects. IGN’s sources say Creative Assembly employees face redundancy but also expect company-wide cuts at Sega.

Announced in 2022, Hyenas was billed as a team-based extraction shooter for PlayStation, Xbox and PC, with players looting coveted pop-culture objects in wild zero-gravity environments. The over-the-top multiplayer title completed a closed beta earlier this month, dropped its final trailer in August and was still slated for a 2023 launch before today’s news.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sega-cancels-multiplayer-shooter-hyenas-at-the-last-minute-162614456.html?src=rss

[original story: Engadget]