The struggling MMO studio Daybreak Games announces a complete restructuring. Three new studios will be created. They are to continue the 4 MMOs DC Universe Online, Planetside 2, Everquest and Everquest and develop new MMOs. But what about the shooter Z1 Battle Royale?
This is the situation: The Daybreak Game Company was originally known as ‘Sony Online Entertainment’ and has produced some key milestones in MMO and MMORPG history since 1997, including Everquest and Star Wars Galaxies.
However, Sony parted ways with the studio in February 2015. They were bought by an independent investor, and since then, there have been few good news from the studio.
In recent years, Daybreak Games has not produced any successful new games, and the existing games have aged and become less significant. There have been crises and waves of layoffs.
3 new studios, 3 new MMO projects
This is the new announcement: Daybreak Games is establishing three new studios:
- the Dimension Ink Games studio in Austin, Texas will continue to maintain DC Universe Online and develop a new MMO project that will start in 2020
- the Darkpaw Games studio in San Diego will continue to maintain Everquest and Everquest 2, and develop the “next innovation of the franchise”
- the Rogue Planet Games studio, also in San Diego, will develop the Planetside brand and create a new game
Daybreak Games is being vague regarding the new projects. Only the Everquest team is clear that the studio will be working on a new game in the Everquest universe. For the other two studios, Daybreak Games leaves it open whether the new games will be something new or set in the existing MMO universes.
Daybreak Games states that this new structure is meant to help each studio recruit new personnel, find their own identity, develop existing games, and further games. The heads of the respective games have been promoted to studio heads.
Previously, it was a Daybreak studio with offices in Austin and San Diego, now they are three separate business units.
What about H1Z1?
What stands out: There is no word on H1Z1, even though “Z1 Royale” was actually the last major hit from Daybreak Games, the battle royale shooter before PUBG and later Fortnite came along.
Fans of Z1 are now worried about what will happen to their game, especially since Z1 has recently experienced a resurgence on Steam after previously appearing dead.
2015 looked bright – 2020 not so much
What’s behind it: The last 5 years have been difficult for Daybreak Games, and it seemed surprisingly good at the beginning of this 5-year period.
Daybreak Games somehow struck gold with H1Z1 and was actually at the height of the battle royale hype. H1Z1 Battle Royale, developed by “PlayerUnknown”, exploded on Steam at its time.
The then head of the studio, John Smedley, had already recognized trends in 2014 that bloomed from 2016 onwards. But Daybreak was unable to maintain this lead. Their game was eclipsed by PUBG and then by Fortnite in 2018.
Five years ago, Daybreak Games was still the big MMORPG hope in the West. Here, the future, the “Next Gen” of PC MMORPGs was supposed to emerge. But the eagerly awaited Everquest Next from MMO fans was canceled in 2016. Meanwhile, many of the former MMORPG developers are said to be working on Ashes of Creation, which consider themselves the spiritual successors.
Recently, the studio has seemed unlucky with projects like “Planetside Arena”, which never got off the ground from the start.
This restructuring can only improve the situation. There have long been rumors about a new Everquest project or a Planetside 3: Perhaps we will learn something concrete in the coming months.
