End of Dauntless after mass layoffs. Fans of monster-hunting game blame „crypto” and „capitalists”
Dauntless survived for six years, only to end its life after a disastrous monetization update... ekhm, gameplay.
This is the end of Dauntless, which wasn't saved by the recent layoffs at Phoenix Labs studio. The game's developers announced that the servers will be shut down on May 29, 2025, and the title won't receive any new content.
The title launched in 2019 as a project of people who once worked at Riot Games and BioWare studios. The free action RPG did quite well, even though it only hit Steam in December 2024.
Unfortunately, by that time Dauntless had alienated its players. They were especially annoyed by the patch released then, as the developers altered many aspects of the game - and not for the better. The main criticism was the fact that most of the "fixes" seemed to be aimed at encouraging (or even forcing) the use of microtransactions.
The reaction of the fans is clearly evidenced by the "overwhelmingly negative" reviews from Steam users. A co-founder of the team (where she worked briefly but intensely) expressed outrage after the December update, stating that the Dauntless gameplay was "gutted" and not at all tailored for players (via LinkedIn).
Wealthy founders and cryptocurrencies
Internet users openly state who, in their opinion, the main culprits are: the Garena company and, above all, Forte. The former bought the Phoenix Labs team in 2020, but suffice it to say that just three years later, the studio was sold to the latter company (specializing in cryptocurrencies) for a significantly lower amount and without much publicity. During this time, Dauntless didn't receive any major updates.
As reported a year ago by one of the former employees of PL, the problem also involved the founders of Phoenix Labs, who, after the first transaction, "bought a Porsche" and generally squandered money without making progress. Later, the Game Developer website obtained information about the team's problems, including the pressure from Forte Company to use blockchain technology in Dauntless and the cancellation of Project Dragon.
This led to the previously mentioned layoffs in January 2025 (following a smaller "restructuring" in May 2024), resulting in most developers losing their jobs. After this, fans were already expecting the worst, but the players are still inconsolable about the decision. Many posts on social media openly criticize "crypto" and "capitalists" who only focused on profit and killed a once-promising game.
