Phoenix Labs studio lays off employees two years after controversial takeover. „I am so mad at the overlords I cannot even find the words”

Phoenix Labs studio announced mass layoffs. Most employees will say goodbye to their jobs. Former developers and players blame Forte, the company that took over the team two years ago, for this state of affairs.

Adrian Werner

Source: Phoenix Labs

Phoenix Labs, the studio behind Dauntless and Fae Farm, is set to experience a major reduction in employment. The scale of layoffs is serious.

  1. We don't know the exact numbers, but most of the employees are expected to lose their jobs.
  2. The studio management also announced that in a few weeks, it will inform players about how this will affect the future of Dauntless and Fae Farm.
  3. The layoffs happened only two years after the studio was acquired by Forte, a company dedicated to using blockchain technology.

Dauntless is an action RPG inspired by the Monster Hunter series. It was released in 2019, but until recently the project was only available in the Epic Games Store. The game was also released on Steam on December 5, 2024, and received a major update, Dauntless Awakeness, on the same day.

The patch was received very poorly, which is best illustrated by the fact that the game has only 16% positive reviews on Steam. The update completely revamped the gameplay to implement significantly more aggressive monetization. Crafting and development options have been severely limited - in a way that makes sensible gameplay practically impossible without spending real money.

Players blame the new owners of the studio for this state of affairs. Producer Jessie Leigh Gagnon, who worked at Phoenix Labs on Dauntless, strongly criticized the changes introduced by the recent update, stating that it destroyed the original vision of the game.

Meanwhile, artist Nicholas Kole, who was laid off from Phoenix Labs last year, commented on the latest job cuts as follows:

And thaaaat looks like the death blow. I am so mad at the overlords I cannot even find the words.

  1. Dauntless on Steam

Fae Farm

September 8, 2023

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Adrian Werner

Author: Adrian Werner

A true veteran of the Gamepressure newsroom, writing continuously since 2009 and still not having enough. He caught the gaming bug thanks to playing on his friend's ZX Spectrum. Then he switched to his own Commodore 64, and after a short adventure with 16-bit consoles, he forever entrusted his heart to PC games. A fan of niche productions, especially adventure games, RPGs and games of the immersive sim genre, as well as a mod enthusiast. Apart from games, he devourers stories in every form - books, series, movies, and comics.