Gaming Industry Layoff Wave Hits Dauntless Developer Phoenix Labs – Impacting Talent and Future Projects

Recent weeks have seen a surge in gaming industry layoffs, with Phoenix Labs, the developer behind Dauntless, becoming the latest casualty. In February, GamesBeat reported that the studio’s management bought Phoenix Labs from Singapore-based Garena, which had acquired the developer in 2020.

While the exact number of affected employees remains undisclosed, Polygon estimates that roughly 30 staff members lost their jobs, based on the company’s LinkedIn profile. In a statement to Polygon, Phoenix Labs detailed their efforts to reassign affected employees:

“During the reorganization, we strived to find new roles for as many employees as possible. Despite our success in reassigning numerous individuals, we ultimately had to part ways with some exceptional talent. Approximately 9% of our workforce, including those in Montreal and remote workers in the United States, were impacted. To ease the transition, we have offered severance packages, extended benefits coverage, and job placement assistance to all affected employees.”

In mid-2022, Phoenix Labs announced that it had 10 projects in varying development stages, including the upcoming co-op farming game Fae Farm. The company also reported that their free-to-play RPG Dauntless had amassed over 30 million players. This layoff trend has similarly affected major gaming companies like Take-Two and Amazon.