The developers of the survival MMO Last Oasis are facing financial challenges. They announce the release of a new game to save the studio from closing.
Why is the studio facing closure? The studio Donkey Crew released the survival MMO Last Oasis in Early Access in 2020. In the game, players build massive walkable bases to journey across a dying planet.
Last Oasis immediately became a Steam bestseller, but it had so many server issues that it had to be taken offline for a week. Over the years, it unfortunately did not improve: player numbers dropped and reviews worsened.
At times, players had to wait up to a year for new updates from the studio. Even today, almost 4 years later, the game is still in the Early Access phase, and a version 1.0 is still not in sight.
In an interview, the project leader of the game now states that the studio is facing closure and currently there is no option to continue developing the game.
A new game is supposed to be the solution
What is supposed to save the studio from closure? In the interview, project leader Florian Hofreither further states that the reality is to either completely close the studio or release a new game.
For this reason, their new medieval village-building RPG Bellwright was announced last year, which is also expected to be released in Early Access, likely in the first quarter of 2024.
The project leader further describes that Last Oasis initially sold quite well, but after some time no longer generated income. So in total there were only three options: fire 90% of the studio and continue developing Last Oasis, release a new game, or completely shut down.
Reactions from the community: The community seems very upset about the announcement, as evidenced by a Reddit thread titled “Do not support this game.” Players are particularly concerned that Last Oasis has not been completed, and they believe the developers are not responding appropriately to their criticism.
The user retrorays even goes so far as to claim that there have apparently been massive bans on comments regarding the new game Bellwright on Steam. Even his supposedly positive comment was, according to his statements, banned for being “off-topic.”
This is not the first time a studio faces closure for financial reasons. The studio The Day Before also shut down just a few days after its release. You can read more about this here:
