This can be a little bit of a bizarre one: Two years after asserting its deliberate closure within the aftermath of the Embracer Group’s $2 billion implosion, Campfire Cabal revealed at the moment that it “was by no means shut down” in any respect, and that it’s in truth engaged on a brand new addition to the Expeditions sequence of historic RPGs.
“In case you comply with the insider information, you might be conscious that it’s been a tough couple of years within the sport trade,” the studio wrote. “Funding dried up, studios shut down, numerous builders misplaced their jobs, and video games have been cancelled left and proper.”
That is placing it mildly. A fast catch-up on how we received right here: Campfire Cabal was based in September 2022 below Embracer’s THQ Nordic label to “deal with high-quality, narrative-driven RPGs.” However lower than a 12 months later a large funding deal fell by on the final minute, and Embracer’s wings have been all of the sudden and brutally clipped: Tons of of individuals have been laid off (though not one of the executives liable for the mess, in fact) and quite a few studios closed, together with—apparently—Campfire Cabal.
“It’s no secret that Embracer Group has just lately entered restructuring,” inventive director Jonas Wæver wrote in August 2023. “As a part of this restructuring course of, THQ Nordic has been advised to shut Campfire Cabal. This choice was not associated to the work we have been doing on the studio however was created from a purely monetary standpoint.”
Wæver stated on the time that studio administration and THQ Nordic “haven’t given up on Campfire Cabal,” and that “we’re nonetheless pursuing our choices for locating decision to this case,” though to my studying that got here off nearly fully as compelled optimism, particularly on condition that his announcement was actually entitled “Studio Closure.” And but, right here we’re.
“Although we did need to say goodbye to a lot of our colleagues, the studio survived and a compact group continued the venture we had began in 2022. On the finish of March of 2025, we obtained the inexperienced gentle to cut back up and transition into full manufacturing,” Campfire Cabal wrote at the moment.
“We’re extraordinarily grateful that there have been individuals throughout the group who fought to maintain us alive by the turmoil, and that we are able to now emerge on the opposite facet with renewed vigour.”
Campfire Cabal additionally lastly confirmed at the moment that it is engaged on a brand new Expeditions RPG, one thing beforehand assumed however by no means formally introduced, and that it was liable for a shock Expeditions: Rome patch that dropped in November 2024. Particulars weren’t shared however, like earlier video games within the sequence, “it’s set in a brand new interval of our historical past and in a brand new a part of the world.”
