Phoenix Labs, the studio behind Dauntless, did not have an easy time. After their elaborate attempt to save their flagship title and attract new players, the studio is now on the verge of closing down. A former developer expresses anger over this development.
How did Dauntless fail? The title was originally supposed to offer a free alternative to Monster Hunter and was announced in 2016. Since Capcom had not released any of the games from the franchise on PC at that time, Phoenix Labs aimed to fill that gap by also releasing their game on Steam.
However, the release was not well-timed: In 2018, Dauntless launched almost simultaneously with Monster Hunter World on PC. As a result, the title was overshadowed and unfortunately could not recover from it. Other titles like Fae Farm or another project that had been in development for 3 years were also canceled, leading to layoffs (via LinkedIn).
With an extensive and time-consuming update, they wanted to attempt to salvage the situation. But that went horribly wrong and was not well received by the community. The update was said to be completely player-unfriendly and did not reflect the community’s feedback.
Still, the studio continued to try to turn things around – with little success. Now the studio is grappling with the consequences.
The major update “Dauntless: Awakening” was supposed to be the big new beginning:
“I am so angry at the overlords that I cannot even find the words”
What impact did this have? In a post on LinkedIn, Phoenix Labs now reports on its fateful decision. They decided to part ways with the majority of their employees due to the developments. This was not easy, and they thank each individual for their passionate commitment.
The impacts this will have on Dauntless and Fae Farm will be detailed in the coming weeks. They now want to focus primarily on supporting those who were laid off.
A former developer of the studio, Nicholas Kole, describes this approach as the “death blow” for the studio in his post on Bluesky: “And that looks like the death blow. I am so angry at the overlords that I cannot even find the words.”
In doing so, he is presumably referring not only to the failure of the executives regarding the games but also to the studio’s acquisition by Forte Labs in 2023 (via GamesRadar+). The new owner of the studio apparently wanted to integrate controversial blockchain technology into the games and made several decisions regarding updates and monetization of the game that were not well received.
That Dauntless failed is unfortunate for players, as the concept of games like Monster Hunter remains highly popular even after around 20 years of franchise history. On February 28, the latest installment, Monster Hunter Wilds, will be released. MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya is even confident that the title could become Game of the Year 2025: Monster Hunter Wilds is a strong contender for Game of the Year 2025 – Conclusion after the beta
