Dauntless Developer Phoenix Labs Lays Off “Majority” Of Staff

Dauntless and Fae Farm developer Phoenix Labs has announced that it has laid off the “majority” of its staff as part of what it calls “unfortunate but necessary changes to our operations.”

The news came from a statement posted to the studio’s LinkedIn page (spotted by Gematsu), though it does not share exactly how many employees have been impacted, nor does it yet say what the impact will be on both Dauntless and Fae Farm.

It also doesn’t share any more details as to what led the studio to this point. It is the second layoff for Phoenix Labs within the last 12 months, after it laid off an unknown number of developers and cancelled unannounced projects in May 2024.

In the case of that layoff, Phoenix Labs said the restructure was done as “the last resort to ensure Phoenix Labs can survive, and thrive in the long term.” The cancellations would also allow the studio to focus on the two games it did have running, Dauntless and Fae Farm.

The short-term financial gain the last layoff had to the studio’s balance sheet clearly didn’t do the trick to help the team long-term, seeing as how most of the staff are now gone less than a year later.

Unfortunately, it might be the case that an announcement regarding the shut down of Fae Farm, Dauntless, and even potentially the whole Phoenix Labs studio, is incoming. You can see the full statement from Phoenix Labs on today’s layoff, below.

“Today is another difficult day at Phoenix Labs. We have made the tough decision to part ways with the majority of the studio as part of unfortunate but necessary changes to our operations. We recognize and deeply appreciate the contributions of every individual impacted.

Their talent, dedication, and creativity have left an indelible mark on our company and our games. We will share more details in the coming weeks about what this means for Dauntless and Fae Farm. For now, our focus is on supporting those affected through this transition.

To our industry peers, we encourage you to reach out to these exceptional individuals – they are some of the best in the business.”

Source – [Phoenix Labs via Gematsu]