Phoenix Labs Will Shut Down Dauntless Permanently in May

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After a six-year journey, Dauntless, the popular free-to-play monster-hunting role-playing game, is preparing to conclude its operation. Phoenix Labs has officially announced that the game will be closing on May 29, 2025.

Starting from that point on, the game will become inaccessible and no new features or content will be introduced. This information was disseminated through a succinct message on the game’s official account, with the developers expressing their gratitude to the players for being part of the journey. For dedicated fans, this announcement might have been the long-awaited end after months of ambiguity. However, the downfall of Dauntless wasn’t an instant event; it was a gradual process.

A significant event that impacted Dauntless occurred privately within the company. As per the Game Developer’s 2024 report, Phoenix Labs was bought by Forte Labs in 2023, but this acquisition was kept confidential and never announced publicly. It is said that employees were asked to keep the news of the sale hidden, resulting in Dauntless’s new ownership remaining a secret for nearly a year.

Previously, blockchain firm Forte Labs made investments in ventures concerning crypto gaming and NFT environments, such as Phoenix Labs. However, it was not explicitly stated what objectives Phoenix Labs had. Nonetheless, ex-employees disclosed that Forte began advocating for the monetary transformation of in-game items. This move signaled the initiation of a series of layoffs and internal turmoil within the company as they adjusted their focus.

By mid-2024, more than 100 employees at Phoenix Labs were let go, and then another round of layoffs occurred early in 2025, leaving only a few staff members. Additionally, other projects that Phoenix Labs had planned while Dauntless was facing difficulties also ended up being cancelled.

Instead of “A major canceled title was Project Dragon,” you could say “Project Dragon, a highly-anticipated multiplayer RPG with elements similar to Minecraft and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has unfortunately been cancelled.”

Instead of “The team had been working on the project for early access,” you could say “The team had been developing it for an early release.”

Instead of “it was unexpectedly scrapped,” you could say “It was abruptly halted.”

Instead of “and everyone was laid off,” you could say “As a result, all team members were unfortunately let go.”

“Project Dragon, a highly-anticipated multiplayer RPG with elements similar to Minecraft and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, has unfortunately been cancelled. The team had been developing it for an early release but, as a result, all team members were unfortunately let go when it was abruptly halted.

Currently, Phoenix Labs was struggling significantly as a production studio. Multiple departments inside the company were laid off, halting the progress of new content creation. With no fresh updates scheduled and player interaction at its lowest point, it was decided to permanently close down Dauntless entirely.

Regrettably, similar to many other live-service games, Dauntless suffered the consequences of poor management within the corporation and an excessive focus on generating revenue through aggressive monetization strategies.

Players had a few months to enjoy the game before it would be gone forever.

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2025-02-25 05:12