On Could 29, Phoenix Labs is completely taking down its flagship recreation, Dauntless. The developer revealed its monster searching title will obtain “no further content material or updates,” and even be playable, after that date.
Lately, Phoenix Labs carried out a number of waves of layoffs, together with over 100 workers in Could 2024. Weeks in the past, the developer introduced it’d laid off “a majority” of its remaining employees.
Dauntless first launched in 2019 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The free-to-play recreation tasked gamers with working collectively or alone to take down monsters (dubbed “Behemoths”), craft and improve gear, and do it once more with larger beasts. Days after its official launch, it had amassed over 6 million gamers, and holds the excellence of being the primary recreation to launch with crossplay between PC, Xbox One, and PS4.
In late 2024, Sport Developer reported the corporate’s alleged struggles after it’d been quietly acquired by Forte Labs. The blockchain agency bought it in 2023, seemingly with the intent of integrating its expertise within the studio’s video games to financialize in-game belongings. New administration reportedly demanded that workers not reveal information of the acquisition.
Former employees later revealed their work on ‘Challenge Dragon,’ one of many canceled titles described as a combination between Minecraft and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
At time of writing, Phoenix Labs’ different recreation, Fae Farm, doesn’t seem like on the verge of shutting down.
In its temporary declaration of the sport’s demise, the studio thanked all gamers “for being part of the Dauntless journey.”
