Yesterday, a Q3 earnings call from Embracer Group revealed that Tarsier Studios would be moving on from Little Nightmares to work on new IPs set to be published by the holding company. The decision left many questioning the future of the studio's revered horror franchise, especially considering it's owned by Bandai Namco rather than Embracer.

Today, a new report from IGN revealed that Tarsier would indeed be moving on from the Little Nightmares IP, with the studio's CEO Andreas Johnsson revealing the news via a comment to the publication. "I personally love how Little Nightmares has gathered fans around the world over the course of the last 4 years," the statement reads, clarifying: "It is bitter sweet to announce that we are leaving the world of Little Nightmares behind us."

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The rest of the statement shares the studio's love for the franchise and how it will always remain important to its history. Johnsson claims that Tarsier's ready to work on fresh, ambitious IPs, with the studio excited to embark on a "new chapter." The comment aligns with the vision laid out during Embracer's earnings call yesterday, with the holding company's CEO Lars Wingefors claiming the team was excited to collaborate with the studio and had originally acquired Tarsier to work on new franchises.

Interestingly, IGN's report also details a brief comment from Bandai Namco, who partnered with Tariser to publish Little Nightmares and owns the rights to the IP. Talking with the publication, they admitted there was nothing to announce regarding the franchise's future just yet.

However, it definitely doesn't seem opposed to the idea of developing a new game without Tarsier's involvement, claiming: "Since we received so much love from fans all around the world with the release of Little Nightmares 2, we feel energized to deliver more content in the future." The comment definitely appears to hint that a third game is a possibility, even if immediate plans aren't currently in the works.

Little Nightmares 2 launched last week, debuting for PC and consoles on February 11. Returning to the eerie world first established in the series' 2017 debut, the sequel sees players assume the role of Mono: a young boy thrust into a world of monsters. Teaming up with the first game's protagonist, Six, the pair navigate across several creepy locales, all the while contending with the game's intimidating roster of antagonists. Little Nightmares 2's conclusion leaves the door open for more entries in the franchise in the future, so it'll be interesting to see whether a new studio picks up where Tarsier left off.

Little Nightmares 2 is out now on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X versions currently in development.

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Source: IGN