Phoenix Labs said on January 27, 2025, that it was parting ways with “the majority of the studio.” A same-day report put the layoffs at around 50 employees and said some former employees believed the studio was likely to close, but Phoenix Labs did not announce a closure or publish an exact headcount. Since then, Dauntless has shut down and Fae Farm has moved to a new publisher. Phoenix Labs’ present operating status remains unconfirmed by the available evidence.
What Phoenix Labs announced—and what was reported
On January 27, 2025, Phoenix Labs said it had made “the tough decision to part ways with the majority of the studio as part of unfortunate but necessary changes to our operations.” The statement, reproduced by Gematsu, did not give a number of employees affected.
Also on January 27, Insider Gaming reported that around 50 employees had been made redundant, citing conversations with former employees. It also reported that some employees expected the studio would likely close. That was an attributed report of employee expectations—not a closure announcement from Phoenix Labs or its parent company, Forte. The headline’s “50+” should therefore be understood as reported, not as an official company-published count.
What happened to Phoenix Labs’ games afterward?
| Game | Announced outcome | What the announcement establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Dauntless | Shutdown announced February 24, 2025; game closed May 29, 2025. | The shutdown notice said the game would receive no additional content or updates and would no longer be playable after the shutdown. Massively Overpowered reproduced the notice. |
| Fae Farm | Publishing transferred to Gambit Digital, announced September 29, 2025. | Gambit Digital said public servers would remain online without downtime during the transfer and that it intended to continue supporting the community. The announcement reported more than 500,000 players across all platforms. Gambit Digital |
These announcements describe the games’ outcomes; they do not by themselves establish whether Phoenix Labs continued as a staffed studio or what work, if any, it was doing afterward.
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Did Phoenix Labs close?
The January 2025 closure prediction was not a confirmed closure notice. As of October 8, 2026, Phoenix Labs’ website is accessible and describes studios in Vancouver and Montreal as well as remote roles. A live website is not enough to verify the company’s current staffing, legal status, or active operations. On the evidence available here, it is not possible to say definitively that Phoenix Labs closed—or that it remains operational.
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What this means for players
- Dauntless: It is no longer playable following its May 29, 2025 shutdown.
- Fae Farm: Gambit Digital said its public servers would stay online during the September 2025 publishing transfer. That announcement does not establish a future support schedule beyond the publisher’s stated intention to support the community.
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