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 company. The announcement did not give an exact number of employees affected or explain the business reasons behind the cuts.
What Phoenix Labs announced
In its January 27 statement, Phoenix Labs said: “We have made the tough decision to part ways with the majority of the studio as part of unfortunate but necessary changes to our operations.” The company said it appreciated the contributions of those affected and that its immediate focus was supporting them through the transition. It also said it would share more details in the coming weeks about what the changes meant for Dauntless and Fae Farm. Game Developer reported the announcement and reproduced the statement.
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How many employees were laid off?
Phoenix Labs did not state an exact number for the January 2025 layoffs. The company’s phrase was “the majority of the studio,” so a precise headcount for that round is not established.
Separately, Game Developer reported in January 2025 that more than 160 employees had been let go before the majority-of-studio announcement. That reported figure refers to earlier departures, not the January cuts. The outlet’s October 2024 reporting also described former employees’ accounts of a culture of secrecy after the acquisition. Those are attributed accounts, not an official company headcount or a finding that the acquisition alone caused the layoffs. Game Developer’s October 2024 report.
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What the Forte acquisition does—and does not—explain
Forte Labs acquired Phoenix Labs in 2023, about two years before the January 2025 announcement. The chronology and former employees’ accounts provide context, but the cited reporting does not establish how much the acquisition, the performance of Dauntless, or other business decisions contributed to the cuts. Phoenix Labs’ statement described operational changes without detailing their underlying cause.
What happened to Dauntless and Fae Farm afterward
The January announcement said the studio would provide more information about both games, but it did not announce their eventual service plans. Those came later:
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- Dauntless: Later reporting said the game would shut down on May 29, 2025, with no additional content or updates. Massively Overpowered reported the shutdown date.
- Fae Farm: In August 2025, PC Gamer reported that the game would lose online play and receive no future updates, while remaining playable offline in single-player mode. PC Gamer’s report.
Phoenix Labs describes Fae Farm as a cozy farm-sim RPG for one to four players on its games page. RPGamer identifies Nintendo Switch among the game’s platforms; that does not establish current physical-copy availability.
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