Polish studio 11 bit studios, greatest recognized for Frostpunk and This Struggle of Mine, has cancelled a sport, codenamed Undertaking 8, that had been in improvement for years.
Described as a narrative-rich sport that might additionally function the developer’s first console-centric title, 11 bit studios has introduced that it has cancelled the event of Undertaking 8. Beginning improvement in 2018, by September 30, its improvement staff had expanded to 37 individuals, whereas 11 bit’s funding’s into the mission had grown to PLN 48.4 million (which is roughly $11.79 million).
“Our imaginative and prescient for Undertaking 8, which was meant to be our first title designed particularly for console players, was daring and thrilling,” says 11 bit studios president Przemysław Marszał. “Nonetheless, it was conceived underneath very completely different market circumstances, when narrative-driven, story-rich video games held stronger enchantment.”
He went on to talk about the challenges that Undertaking 8 confronted throughout improvement, from the COVID-19 pandemic to a rising finances to the aforementioned altering market circumstances, all of which in the end “raised vital doubts in regards to the mission’s total profitability.”
“With Undertaking 8, we skilled each breakthroughs and setbacks. In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, stabilising the event staff proved significantly tough, but progress continued,” he defined. “Whereas we achieved noticeable high quality enhancements in sure areas, a number of crucial features of the sport and its improvement course of remained problematic regardless of a number of iterations. Over time, delays gathered, and with every milestone, the mission’s finances grew.
“When assessing a mission, the Administration Board all the time considers its improvement progress, together with inner evaluations and unbiased surveys,” Marszał added. “We additionally think about market analyses and the sport’s gross sales and advertising and marketing potential. Sadly, on this case, our findings revealed unresolved points and challenges that might require additional extensions of the manufacturing timeline and corresponding finances will increase to deal with. This, coupled with revised gross sales forecasts, largely reflecting the altering market setting, raised vital doubts in regards to the mission’s total profitability.”
11 bit studios says it must acknowledge an impairment lack of PLN 48.4 million attributable to Undertaking 8’s cancellaton, whereas the studio can be going through layoffs consequently, with the event staff engaged on the mission being made redundant.
Whether or not all the staff’s roles are being minimize or if some will probably be transferred to different tasks throughout the studio hasn’t been talked about. 11 bit says it is going to provide severance packages and help in in search of new employment to these affected, and that it’s “presently auditing the belongings developed for Undertaking 8 to evaluate their potential software in different initiatives.”
2024 noticed the launch of 11 bit studios’ Frostpunk 2 for PC, which can be coming to PS5 and Xbox Sequence X/S in 2025. Subsequent 12 months can even see the discharge of the studio’s sci-fi survival title The Alters.