According to a new report, a Red Faction sequel was in development at one point before the project was canceled during Embracer’s months-long period of layoffs. While this new game in the series was pitched to higher-ups shortly after original Red Faction studio Volition had shut down, developer Fishlabs felt that it had the necessary experience to resurrect the series.
As reported by Rock Paper Shotgun, Fishlabs put together an elevator pitch in trailer form to sell Embracer-owned publisher Plaion on the idea. The visual prototype was built in Unreal Engine 5 and the plan was to create a game similar to 2009’s Red Faction: Guerrilla, but it was never greenlit and the project was canceled by November 2023. Not long after, Fishlabs studio leadership was reportedly instructed to lay off almost every staff member not involved in an active game project and mass layoffs began soon thereafter.
This wasn’t the first time that Embracer had flirted with the Red Faction franchise, as back in 2019, Red Faction: Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered was released by the company. This version of the game had better visuals and even more impressive physics-based destruction. Its 2011 sequel, Red Faction: Armageddon never received the same treatment.
Overall, Embracer has embarked on a series of drastic cuts lately, partly due to a major deal falling through. This was later revealed to have been a pact with Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games that fell through, and eventually 29 unannounced games were canceled and 1,400 people lost their jobs. Embracer Group is also splitting up into three distinct companies and it has recently discussed its plans to to use artificial intelligence technology to “empower” its employees during the game development process.
