[Piranha Bytes, the Embracer-owned studio that developed "Gothic," "Risen," and "Elex," admitted after a week of rumors that it is in a "difficult situation," but said it is trying to find a way forward for its next project. If that is not possible, the studio will be shut down.

Information about Piranha Bytes' potential troubles surfaced on the Elex 2 subreddit last week: administrators noticed that the studio's next project, codenamed WIKI6 and expected to be Elex 3, had been removed from the German government funding page

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Piranha Bytes' website has also been changed to just the studio's logo and address, and the previously active Piranha Bytes YouTube channel has not updated its videos since November 27, 2023. German gaming website Gamestar (Google translate) subsequently reported multiple sources that the studio is facing closure.

Piranha Bytes now admits that the situation is not good. 'Yes, it is true,' the studio said in a message posted today. 'We at Piranha Bytes are in a difficult situation. There is a lot of news about us right now, but this is our answer: don't give up on us yet!"

There is no indication yet as to what the studio's next project is intended to be, but it seems unlikely that it will be backed by Embracer: "We are fully committed to this goal and whatever it takes to find a partner for this project We will do whatever it takes to find a partner for this project.

Piranha Bytes was founded in 1997 and has made a name for itself as a maker of large, complex, janky RPGs through games like "Gothic," "Risen," and "Elex. The company was acquired in 2019 by THQ Nordic, a division of the Embracer Group, turning Embracer into a veritable gaming giant.

However, Embracer ran into trouble in 2023 when a $2 billion investment deal fell through, and the effects of its collapse were devastating: hundreds of employees were laid off and several studios were closed in the months that followed. The wording of Piranha Byte's message overlaps with the situation at Free Radical Design, a TimeSplitters studio that reportedly faced "possible closure" in November 2023.

Eventually, it happened: Embracer was unable to find a buyer for Free Radical and officially closed in December. Now, Piranha Bytes is facing the same situation: one representative said that if the studio is unable to find a new partner for its next project or move forward as an independent studio, the studio will close

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