The free-to-play action RPG Dauntless (PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox) hasn’t made headlines in recent months. However, it seems that the game is doing quite well. Developer Phoenix Labs announced that they are opening 2 new studios and hiring new employees.
What’s happening with Dauntless? In a press release, Phoenix Labs stated that two new developer studios are being established:
- One is being established in Montreal and will be supervised by Andre Roy, who was previously part of a marketing firm for MMOs and involved in the development of Uplay at Ubisoft.
- The second is being set up in Los Angeles and will be led by Omar Kendall, who worked as a Creative Manager at THQ and was part of Riot Games from 2013 to 2020.
The goal is to increase the number of employees at Phoenix Labs to 250 by the end of 2021. It is mentioned that 50 new employees were already hired in 2020.
Interestingly, the studio currently has only one game on the market: Dauntless. The action RPG, which is heavily reminiscent of Monster Hunter World, seems to be performing well.
25 million players and a big update this week
How is Dauntless doing? According to the press release, Dauntless currently has 25 million players. It is not mentioned whether these are active accounts or just created accounts. The latter is more likely, as the number has steadily and fairly evenly increased:
- In May 2019, there were talks of 5 million players (via Twitter)
- In October 2019, it was 15 million (via the escapist)
- Now it is 25 million
Dauntless is continually being developed and is becoming more of an MMO. One of the biggest updates is now on the horizon: Dauntless Reforged.
What’s behind the update? Dauntless brings with Reforged some new content, but also many revisions of existing content:
- A new form of hunting is introduced with the Hunting Grounds. There are 17 revised and one completely new island where hunting can take place
- The character development is being revised. With the “Path of the Slayer”, you will need to decide which direction you want to take your character during level ups. There is a main path and side paths. This also involves revisions of the XP system and reputation.
- The upgrading of equipment is being revised
- Gliders for movement are being introduced
We have compiled more about the development of Dauntless since its release for you at MeinMMO.
Studio plans new games alongside Dauntless
As Phoenix Labs announced, not every new employee will be working on the action RPG Dauntless. Instead, the studio aims to develop new games as well.
The direction these games will take and whether they will be multiplayer or online titles is not known.
Not only at Phoenix Labs is something happening. On December 1, the company EG7 announced that they have acquired the large MMORPG company Daybreak:
