No reason for the game being shut down was given, and even its Steam updates list just features a simple announcement.

“Dauntless is shutting down on May 29, 2025,” posted the studio on Steam. “Dauntless will receive no additional content or updates. The game will no longer be available to play on May 29, 2025.”

The announcement comes just a month after Phoenix Labs was hit by layoffs that affected a majority of the studio. Announcing the layoffs on LinkedIn, the studio referred to the move as “unfortunate but necessary.”

These recent layoffs came almost a year after similar layoffs from back in May 2024. At the time, the studio had also cancelled several of its unannounced projects that were in development.

As for Dauntless, the shut down of its servers comes just a few months after a major overhaul the game got back in December. Dubbed Dauntless: Awakening, the title got re-focused into a live-service game where players could progress through a new quest system.

While it was originally more of a Monster Hunter-styled game, the Awakening release changed it completely to be closer to a more standard action RPG. The move was quite controversial among the game’s player base, with many leaving negative reviews. At the time of writing, Dauntless currently sits at Mostly Negative for its recent reviews, and Overwhelmingly Negative for all reviews.

The changes made to Dauntless as part of the Awakening update were described by the studio as being part of an attempt to create a “strong foundation” on which it could continue to develop more content for the game, especially with a planned seasonal content model.

For context, the Awakening update removed several key parts of the Monster Hunter-styled gameplay loop that Dauntless was originally going for. This includes the loop of hunting down the game’s monsters, called Behemoths, for crafting materials that could be used to make new weapons and armour. The update also removed most of the weapons from the game, only to be replaced by a smaller pool of weapons.

The update also brought a complete wipe to quite a few areas of progression in Dauntless, and the studio has had to release several updates since Awakening as apologies to veteran players that have had gripes with losing all the time they had spent in the game’s previous form of progression.

While Dauntless might be getting shut down, Phoenix Labs’ other title, Fae Farm, still seems to be doing quite well. While more content hasn’t been released for the cosy farming sim, the title still sits at a review aggregate of Mostly Positive on Steam.

The future of Phoenix Labs is currently unclear, however. While Fae Farm will likely survive down the line since it hasn’t been tied into Phoenix Labs’ live-service ambitions, the shut down of Dauntless might have deeper repercussions for the studio.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Important update: Dauntless is shutting down on May 29, 2025. Dauntless will receive no additional content or updates. <br><br>Dauntless will no longer be available to play on and after May 29, 2025 at 11:45PM PST.<br><br>Thanks to all for being a part of the Dauntless journey.</p>&mdash; Dauntless (@PlayDauntless) <a href=”https://twitter.com/PlayDauntless/status/1894090939267702888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 24, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

“Today is another difficult day at Phoenix Labs,” says the announcement. “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.”

The studio hasn’t revealed details on exactly how many of its employees were let go, nor has it announced future plans for Dauntless or Fae Farm. Its statement did mention that more details about the two titles will be announced in the coming weeks, however.

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

The move has followed a similar round of layoffs back in May 2024, where the studio also cancelled several unannounced projects that were being developed at the time. The decision was made back then for Phoenix Labs to focus more on live service titles. At the time, reports indicated that more than 100 developers would be part of the layoffs.

The move follows a massive drop in the player base for Dauntless, which essentially scrapped its entire original design philosophy of trying to be a new take on the Monster Hunter genre. Changes made to the title brought it more in line with an action RPG where monsters wouldn’t be the big bosses that the title was originally well-regarded for.

The changes made to Dauntless were described by Phoenix Labs as being part of an attempt to create a “strong foundation” on which continuous development would take place as part of a new seasonal content model. Since this update, however, player feedback has been incredibly negative. For context, at the time of writing, Dauntless sits at a review aggregate of Mostly Negative for recent reviews, and Overwhelmingly Negative for all reviews.

Fae Farm, in contrast, seems to have avoided the studio’s live service ambitions, with its player base still enjoying the title. On Steam, this amounts to Very Positive ratings, both for recent reviews and all reviews.

“This unfortunately means canceling work on all other projects at the studio, which will impact many of our colleagues immediately,” said the studio in its announcement. “We are giving notices to everyone whose roles are affected.”

While this means that there will be some layoffs at Phoenix Labs, the studio itself hasn’t confirmed how many developers it is letting go. According to Polygon’s Nicole Carpenter, more than 100 developers will be part of the layoffs because of this restructuring. The studio had been working on a multiplayer shooter since at least 2022, among other unannounced titles.

The biggest title released by Phoenix Labs so far has been Dauntless, which was developed out of a desire for a Monster Hunter-styled title on multiple platforms. This predates the release of Capcom’s Monster Hunter World, however.

Since then the game has seen updates, with new creatures as well as equipment for players to chase. Back in 2019, it was announced that Dauntless had more than 5 million players.

Major layoffs at Fae Farm, Dauntless dev Phoenix Labs today. Two sources said over 100 people have been impacted. On LinkedIn, a former worker said all in development games have been cancelled, including one about to be announced. Devastating news — so sorry to those impacted. pic.twitter.com/H4LLH6jY3C

— Nicole Carpenter (@sweetpotatoes) May 16, 2024

“After a rigorous review, we decided to change the structure of our support teams, and we have made the tough decision to reduce our workforce by 34 people across our publishing, HR, IT, and shared services teams. Our games teams were unaffected, and our work continues across our titles at Phoenix Labs. 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.” Previous layoffs resulted in nine percent of the total workforce cut in May. Three of its co-founders also departed after the studio was acquired by Garena in January 2020.

Dauntless is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC and Nintendo Switch. It’s a free-to-play Monster Hunter-style action RPG with over 25 million players as of 2021. Along with supporting its flagship title, Phoenix Labs also released Fae Farm, a four-player co-op fantasy farming sim with spells.

It will receive its first major update and DLC, Coasts of Croakia, on December 14th. This adds a new realm, encounters and other content. Stay tuned for more details en route to its release.

As spotted over on ResetEra, a job ad for the position of lead marketing manager on the developer’s official website confirms that they’re working on a new IP “in the shooter space.” There are mentions of a “live ops plan”, which would suggest that the game will follow a live service model, while the job listing also suggests that it might be a free-to-play title and could release for PC, consoles, and mobile devices. It also seems like Phoenix Labs is looking to emphasize esports with this shooter as well.

Of course, this isn’t a game that has been officially unveiled yet, so hopefully we’ll hear something more about it in the not-too-distant future.

On the PS5 and Xbox Series X, Dauntless will run at 4K and 60 FPS, while the Xbox Series S version will run at 1440p and 60 FPS. You can also expect 90% faster loading times across all three consoles, and visual improvements that entail new lighting and atmospheres, improved draw distances, volumetric fog and other effects, and reworked environment textures for from trees and grass to water and shadows.

Meanwhile, 36 new Achievements and Trophies have also been added to the game. The PS5 version will also feature support for 3D audio and the DualSense’s adaptive triggers, as well as the console’s Activities feature. And of course, cross-play and cross-progression will continue to be supported across all platforms that the game is on.

Dauntless is launching for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on December 2. Currently, it is available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. Check out its next-gen announcement trailer below.

Phoenix Labs’ Dauntless has done well for itself since release with numerous updates and new Behemoths added since launch. However, the developer is looking to massively overhaul things with Dauntless – Reforged. Check out the trailer below to see it in action.

Among the changes with Reforged is the Slayer’s Path which offers a new progression system for players.  Rams and merits can be used to unlock each milestone as players define their own path. Gear progression has also been revamped, providing a tier system instead of incremental upgrades. It also brings weapon skill levels, power surging and reforging for further power gains.

There’s also the new Hunting Grounds which offers 18 different islands to explore and numerous Behemoths to fight. The idea is to offer an “endless stream of action and activities” with treasure, flora and fauna and much more to see. Dauntless – Reforged goes live today along with the new Cold Front Hunt Pass that adds two new armor skin sets and rumor quest chains.

Phoenix Labs, developer of free to play action RPG Dauntless, has been acquired by Singapore-based company Garena. As part of Sea Limited, Garena is responsible for Free Fire, a popular free to play battle royale title for mobiles. Garena has also been cited as one of the earliest investors for Phoenix Labs throughout the years.

In a recent press release, Phoenix Labs CEO and co-founder Jesse Houston said, “Our partners at Garena have been our most steadfast supporters since the early days of Phoenix Labs, and we are excited to join forces with a global games leader. With this next step, we’re able to ensure that we can provide the best possible experience for Dauntless players around the world. We’re extremely excited about what the future holds for Phoenix Labs, as we continue to support our ever-growing Dauntless community and explore future games.”

Forrest Li, founder and group chief executive officer of Sea Limited, added, “We couldn’t be happier to welcome Phoenix Labs to the Garena family. Over the last few years, we have watched Phoenix Labs mature into one of the best development teams in the business and launch a hugely exciting title in Dauntless. We also know that they share our mission of making great games, creating the best teams, and putting players first. Our skills sets are highly complementary, and we see many exciting opportunities ahead that our teams can explore together.”

The acquisition of Phoenix Labs will mean further growth for its team along with exploring opportunities in new markets like Asia and Latina America. Mobile is undoubtedly on both companies’ minds, especially since Dauntless is currently in early development for mobile platforms. Of course, it will be interesting to see how the monetization of the Monster Hunter-like title is affected especially since it’s been pretty fair till now.

Regardless, this is good news for Dauntless fans as the game will continue to receive content. This includes more weapons and Behemoths, new regions and more features. Dauntless is currently available for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Ancestors: Humankind Odyssey

So Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Desilets’ vision for a survival game isn’t the best. That being said, if you ever wanted to experience prehistoric journey, from the growth of your tribe all the way to its evolution millions of years later, Ancestors might be worth checking out. It encompasses combat, survival, stealth, exploration and yes, even dying. A lot. As you learn more, craft tools and carry your tribe forward, so too does the world around you change.

Earlier this year, Phoenix Labs released their free-to-play Monster Hunter-style action RPG, Dauntless, for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, and the game enjoyed a successful launch, not only garnering praise from critics, but also being played by millions (a count that has kept on rising in the months since then). Though the game had been announced for the Switch as well, the system did not get a simultaneous release for it- well, the wait for its Switch launch is finally over, with Nintendo announcing during their recent Indie World presentation that Dauntless is out now on their system. Check out the launch trailer below.

The game does, of course, support cross-play and cross-saves with all other versions. Meanwhile, have also released a sizeable new expansion for the game. Called Stormchasers, the DLC brings about several new additions, the biggest of which is Escalation, which brings about sequential hunts with dual Behemoth encounters and roguelike elements, such as procedurally generated Behemoth encounters, with the shock-infused Behemoth Malkarion serving as the final boss of the experience.

“Malkarion is the first Behemoth in Dauntless that gives Slayers a chance to mount their prey, and its unique move-set introduces a number of mechanics that will challenge even the most veteran Slayers on the Shattered Isles,” the developer promises.

Dauntless is out now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC, while a version of the game is also in development for iOS and Android devices.