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Dauntless and Fae Farm devs lay off 34 people but insist DLC plans and unannounced games unaffectedPhoenix Labs makes another round of job cuts
Phoenix Labs makes another round of job cuts
Fae FarmandDauntlessdevelopers Phoenix Labs have cut 34 jobs following an internal review. It’s a sad end to a busy year for the Canadian studio, whobought their independence back from previous owner Garena in February, and laid off 9 per cent of their workforce in May.
“Our games teams were unaffected and our work continues across our titles at Phoenix Labs,” the statement continues. “Fae Farm’s DLC and Dauntless updates are on track, and we have exciting unannounced projects in the works.
“We thank each of the affected team members who have helped to build Phoenix Labs into what it is today. Their impact will be missed and live on through everything the studio does moving forward.”
Launched out of beta in 2019, Pheonix’s Dauntless is a stripped-down Monster Hunter homage that places less emphasis on grinding monster giblets - or at least, that was the case when I played one of the pre-release builds, a million years ago in 2017.
This year’s Fae Farm, similarly, is sort ofStardew Valleybut less of a slog. “It’s slightly easier, in ways that seem small but cumulatively mean it takes up way less of your brain’s runtime on bad days,” Alice Bwrote in September. There’s a big piece of DLC on the way on 14th December - Coasts of Croakia.
Back in May, Phoenix Labsjustified the layoffsas necessary for “success and sustainability”, saying they would “focus on fewer development projects” in future. They’re far from the only studio to make significant headcount reductions this year: just last week,Embracer chopped around 50 positions at Chorus developer Fishlabs. It’s rumoured thatTimeSplitters developer Free Radical are next.
Best of luck to all those affected.
