What you need to know
- Hyenas was an upcoming PvPvE shooter being developed by Creative Assembly, a team of studios under Sega known for the Total War franchise and Alien: Isolation.
- As part of a portfolio review, publisher Sega has canceled Hyenas and some other unannounced games under the European side of its game development business.
- Layoffs are now occurring at Creative Assembly.
One of Sega’s big upcoming games is no longer in development.
Sega shared on Thursday that Hyenas has been canceled following a portfolio review of the company’s European games business. A few unannounced titles have also been canceled.
Announced back in June 2022, Hyenas was a live service game being developed by Creative Assembly, a team of studios under Sega that are best known for the Total War strategy series, but also for the first-person survival-horror game, Alien: Isolation. The game focused around different teams of players entering derelict space ships to hunt down memorabilia from the old world, such as figurines of Sonic the Hedgehog.
While it’s unclear how many jobs exactly will be affected by this game cancellation, layoffs are occurring at Creative Assembly, with Hyenas’ social media manager one of the first to be let go. Hyenas had been in development for years, with multiple betas and a large presence at Gamescom 2023 just a few weeks ago.
Earlier in the year, Sega also oversaw layoffs at Relic Entertainment, another studio in the European division of the company. Some Sega of America workers have also unionized, forming the largest multi-department union in North America.
Outside of the now-defunct Hyenas, Creative Assembly is preparing to launch Total War: Pharaoh, as well as continuing support for Total War: Warhammer 3.
Analysis: A surprising change of pace
Hyenas wasn’t my most anticipated game, but it was still interesting to see Creative Assembly branching outside of its strategy foundations. This cancelation is surprisingly solely because of how far along into development the game was, and I’d love to know what data led Sega to this decision.
At the end of the day though, it’ll be the developers that suffer, and I hope everyone laid off from Sega can find new jobs sooner rather than later.
