Following days of rumors about downsizing at Dark Horse Media, the publisher has issued a statement confirming that on February 3 it “made the difficult but necessary decision to reduce staff.” The statement continued: “After experiencing a period of significant growth, we find ourselves needing to take steps in response to increasing overhead, changing market conditions, and external economic factors. We have begun to streamline all areas of the company in order to continue producing the quality content and products that have been our trademark since day one. Again, this has been an extremely hard decision and not one taken lightly.”
As the statement suggests, Dark Horse has been on something of a rollercoaster ride since it was acquired by the Swedish video game development company, Embracer Group, in early 2022. Since that time, a planned $2 billion investment by the Saudi-backed Savvy Group fell through, and in mid 2023 Embracer announced a restructuring that included downsizing its video game holdings. The downsizing didn’t solve all of Embracer’s problems, however, though in its most recent financial report Embracer said Dark Horse backlist sales were doing well.
The bankruptcy by Diamond Comic Distributors may also have been a factor in the restructuring. This week the Beat reported that TFAW (Things from Another World), a collectible dealer founded by Richardson and owned by Dark Horse, told affiliates that they were ending the program as of April 14. The story noted that while Diamond is most known for its comics and graphic novel distribution business, the company is a huge supplier of toys as well.
Meanwhile, IDW Media Holdings' annual report stated that the company could not yet say what the impact of the Diamond bankruptcy will have on the company. IDW, like Dark Horse, is distributed by Penguin Random House, and executives explained, on a conference call discussing the report, that PRH didn't expect to collect all the money it is owed by Diamond, and therefore may debit future payments to IDW. It wasn't clear if Dark Horse is facing those some issues as well. (In the days following the conference call, the Beat confirmed more layoffs at IDW following the latest salvo last year.)
This article has been updated with further information.
