Phoenix Labs announced on January 27, 2025, that it would part ways with a majority of its studio, roughly two years after Forte Labs acquired the game developer. The announcement did not give an exact number of employees affected. Earlier departures and later changes to the studio’s games are separate developments, and the available reporting does not establish that the acquisition alone caused the layoffs.
What Phoenix Labs announced in January 2025
Phoenix Labs said it had decided to “part ways with the majority of the studio” as part of changes to its operations. The studio did not disclose a headcount or say how many people the January decision affected. It said its immediate priority was supporting impacted staff and that it would provide more information about Dauntless and Fae Farm in the following weeks. Game Developer reported the announcement and reproduced the studio’s statement.
The statement described the operational changes as “unfortunate but necessary,” but did not explain the business reasons behind them. It also did not attribute the decision to a named spokesperson; the remarks were issued in Phoenix Labs’ voice.
How the layoffs relate to the Forte acquisition
Forte Labs acquired Phoenix Labs in 2023. That places the January 2025 announcement about two years after the acquisition, but timing alone does not establish that the deal caused the layoffs.
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In October 2024, Game Developer reported former employees’ accounts of a culture of secrecy after the acquisition. In its January 2025 coverage, the outlet also reported that more than 160 employees had been let go before the majority-of-studio announcement. That reported figure refers to earlier departures, not the number affected by the January layoffs, and it is not an official Phoenix Labs headcount.
The reporting establishes a sequence of events and describes former employees’ experiences. It does not provide an independently verified breakdown of how much the acquisition, Dauntless’ performance, or other business decisions contributed to the cuts.
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What happened to Dauntless and Fae Farm afterward
The January statement said Phoenix Labs would share more about both games, but the service changes came later and should not be mistaken for details in the layoff announcement.
Dauntless
In February 2025, later reporting said Dauntless would shut down on May 29, 2025, with no additional content or updates. Massively Overpowered reported the announced shutdown date.
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Fae Farm
In August 2025, PC Gamer reported that Fae Farm would lose online play and receive no future updates, while remaining playable offline in single-player mode. Phoenix Labs describes the game as a cozy farm-sim RPG for one to four players on its games page. RPGamer identifies Nintendo Switch among its platforms. Those sources confirm a Switch version, not whether a physical copy is currently available for purchase.
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What is—and is not—known about the job cuts
- Known: Phoenix Labs announced on January 27, 2025, that it would part ways with a majority of the studio.
- Not disclosed: The company did not state the number of employees affected by that January decision.
- Reported separately: Game Developer said more than 160 employees had been let go before the January announcement; that number is not the January layoff count.
- Not established: The cited reporting does not independently determine what share of the layoffs resulted from the Forte deal or any other particular business decision.
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