The Daybreak Game Company has faced many problems in recent years and has repeatedly had to lay off employees. Now the company has been sold to EG7. But what changes does this bring and what does it mean for the company’s MMORPGs?
What happened? The company Enad Global 7 from Sweden purchased Daybreak for 300 million dollars. With this acquisition, they now own one of the most important MMORPG developers in the West.
According to the associated press release, EG7 wants to strengthen itself with the acquisition of strong IPs and benefit from the existing communities. In addition, Daybreak is said to have stabilized significantly in revenue in recent months.
However, it is not known whether there will be changes to the games or layoffs as a result of the acquisition. The owner of Daybreak, Jason Epstein, stated that the acquisition is intended to strengthen Daybreak’s titles and improve the experience of their players.
Why is Daybreak so important? Daybreak includes games like EverQuest, EverQuest 2, DC Universe Online, Planetside 2, and H1Z1. Additionally, Daybreak acquired the developer Cold Iron Studios in 2020, which was founded by former developers of Neverwinter and Star Trek Online.
As a “third-party company,” they also assisted with the MMORPGs The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online.
Thus, Daybreak is involved in many Western MMOs and MMORPGs. According to the press release, the company is said to have around 178 million registered players.
However, the success that the studio once had has now faded. In recent years, there have been ongoing problems and layoffs. This ultimately led to the acquisition.
As Sony Online Entertainment successful, under Daybreak in crisis
What is behind the company? Daybreak was originally founded under the name Sony Online Entertainment and aimed to develop strong competitors following the success of Ultima Online.
This led to the creation of MMORPGs such as EverQuest, Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and Free Realms.
However, Daybreak has faced several problems in recent years:
- In 2015, Sony sold the studio, reportedly to an investment firm
- Also in 2015, John Smedley left the company. The MMO veteran had been part of SOE/Daybreak since EverQuest 1. He is now working on a new SciFi MMO for Amazon
- In 2016, the promising MMORPG EverQuest Next was canceled
- In 2018, there were chaos and layoffs at Daybreak. In 2019, there was then a second wave
- Moreover, developments on a AAA MMORPG for Marvel are said to have been halted
Who is the new buyer? EG7 is a company that focuses on the development, publishing, and marketing of video games. They have already acted as a publisher for games like Overcooked 2 and Sniper Elite 3 and were involved in marketing campaigns for Destiny 2, Call of Duty, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
Recently, the company also acquired the Canadian developer Piranha Games, who developed Need for Speed: Shift, Duke Nukem Forever, and MechWarrior.
With Daybreak, several MMORPGs have come to the company. However, most of them are already older. Whether new games are being worked on is not currently known.
None of the currently most promising MMORPGs in development are from Daybreak:
