Developer Phoenix Labs has introduced that the servers for its co-op RPG Dauntless shall be shutting down on Might 29. Taking to social media platform X to announce this, the studio has mentioned that gamers will not be capable of entry Dauntless after Might 29, 2025 at 11:45 PST.
No motive for the sport being shut down was given, and even its Steam updates listing simply includes a easy announcement.
“Dauntless is shutting down on Might 29, 2025,” posted the studio on Steam. “Dauntless will obtain no further content material or updates. The sport will not be out there to play on Might 29, 2025.”
The announcement comes only a month after Phoenix Labs was hit by layoffs that affected a majority of the studio. Saying the layoffs on LinkedIn, the studio referred to the transfer as “unlucky however mandatory.”
These latest layoffs got here virtually a 12 months after comparable layoffs from again in Might 2024. On the time, the studio had additionally cancelled a number of of its unannounced initiatives that have been in growth.
As for Dauntless, the shut down of its servers comes only a few months after a serious overhaul the sport acquired again in December. Dubbed Dauntless: Awakening, the title acquired re-focused right into a live-service recreation the place gamers might progress via a brand new quest system.
Whereas it was initially extra of a Monster Hunter-styled recreation, the Awakening launch modified it utterly to be nearer to a extra normal motion RPG. The transfer was fairly controversial among the many recreation’s participant base, with many leaving detrimental critiques. On the time of writing, Dauntless at the moment sits at Largely Adverse for its latest critiques, and Overwhelmingly Adverse for all critiques.
The modifications made to Dauntless as a part of the Awakening replace have been described by the studio as being a part of an try and create a “sturdy basis” on which it might proceed to develop extra content material for the sport, particularly with a deliberate seasonal content material mannequin.
For context, the Awakening replace eliminated a number of key elements of the Monster Hunter-styled gameplay loop that Dauntless was initially going for. This consists of the loop of searching down the sport’s monsters, referred to as Behemoths, for crafting supplies that could possibly be used to make new weapons and armour. The replace additionally eliminated many of the weapons from the sport, solely to get replaced by a smaller pool of weapons.
The replace additionally introduced an entire wipe to fairly a number of areas of development in Dauntless, and the studio has needed to launch a number of updates since Awakening as apologies to veteran gamers which have had gripes with shedding on a regular basis they’d spent within the recreation’s earlier type of development.
Whereas Dauntless could be getting shut down, Phoenix Labs’ different title, Fae Farm, nonetheless appears to be doing fairly effectively. Whereas extra content material hasn’t been launched for the cosy farming sim, the title nonetheless sits at a overview mixture of Largely Optimistic on Steam.
The way forward for Phoenix Labs is at the moment unclear, nevertheless. Whereas Fae Farm will doubtless survive down the road because it hasn’t been tied into Phoenix Labs’ live-service ambitions, the shut down of Dauntless may need deeper repercussions for the studio.
Necessary replace: Dauntless is shutting down on Might 29, 2025. Dauntless will obtain no further content material or updates.
Dauntless will not be out there to play on and after Might 29, 2025 at 11:45PM PST.
Due to all for being part of the Dauntless journey.— Dauntless (@PlayDauntless) February 24, 2025
