Developer Phoenix Labs has introduced that the servers for its co-op RPG Dauntless will likely be shutting down on Might 29. Taking to social media platform X to announce this, the studio has mentioned that gamers will now not be capable to entry Dauntless after Might 29, 2025 at 11:45 PST.
No cause for the sport being shut down was given, and even its Steam updates checklist simply encompasses a easy announcement.
“Dauntless is shutting down on Might 29, 2025,” posted the studio on Steam. “Dauntless will obtain no extra content material or updates. The sport will now 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. Asserting the layoffs on LinkedIn, the studio referred to the transfer as “unlucky however essential.”
These current layoffs got here virtually a yr after comparable layoffs from again in Might 2024. On the time, the studio had additionally cancelled a number of of its unannounced tasks 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 bought again in December. Dubbed Dauntless: Awakening, the title bought re-focused right into a live-service recreation the place gamers might progress by 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 unfavourable critiques. On the time of writing, Dauntless at the moment sits at Largely Detrimental for its current critiques, and Overwhelmingly Detrimental 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 to create a “robust 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 might be used to make new weapons and armour. The replace additionally eliminated a lot of the weapons from the sport, solely to get replaced by a smaller pool of weapons.
The replace additionally introduced a whole 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 dropping on a regular basis they’d spent within the recreation’s earlier type of development.
Whereas Dauntless is likely to be getting shut down, Phoenix Labs’ different title, Fae Farm, nonetheless appears to be doing fairly properly. Whereas extra content material hasn’t been launched for the cosy farming sim, the title nonetheless sits at a assessment mixture of Largely Constructive on Steam.
The way forward for Phoenix Labs is at the moment unclear, nevertheless. Whereas Fae Farm will possible 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.
Vital replace: Dauntless is shutting down on Might 29, 2025. Dauntless will obtain no extra content material or updates.
Dauntless will now 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
