Big ambitions, but very small results, this is the very short summary of the release of Dauntlessa game that wanted to become the next Monster Hunter, but which was extinguished by the release of Monster Hunter World.
While the studio is in great difficulty, the developers are preparing a very large extension to try to change things and come back to the forefront.
A new beginning with Dauntless Awakening?
If you've never touched Dauntless, the Monster Hunter-style game, but Cartoon made a lot of noise for a few months, reaching 6 million players, before completely disappearing and has remained extremely quiet since.
Available on all consoles, for PC it was only released onEpic Game Storewhich necessarily implies a lower number of players by default.
The game is quite poorly rated with barely average on Metacritic and in question: the repetitiveness, the lack of originality and a gameplay sans flavor. So with such a bad start, how can the developers save the game four years later? Apparently, Phoenix Labs has a plan!
“Dauntless : Awakening“a new expansion for the game is supposed to arrive by the end of the year, just a few months before the release of Monster Hunter Wilds so, as if a pattern was repeating itself…
On the menu for this extension: a new progression system to allow players to feel a real improvement of their equipment, system improvements combatbut also more dynamism in exploration and in the modes of difficulty.
A list that might seem interesting, but which leaves doubt as to whether it will succeed in captivating more fans than the first time.
Phoenix Labs a studio on the verge of bankruptcy and deserted games?
If you don't particularly know Phoenix Labsyou may have no idea that the company didn't just release Dauntless. Indeed, the developers are also at the origin of Fae Farmyet another kawaii farm management simulator. The only problem is that if the game is well rated on Steam, no one plays it. The game is less than a thousand players per daysometimes only a few hundred.
The studio has already come close to closing for economic reasons, and they were simply forced to part ways with certain developers. Furthermore, the company was recently bought in secret by a blockchain named Forte who didn't want it to be known.
This repurchase had the repercussion to cancel a game that the studio had been preparing for 5 years already. The future of Pheonix Labs remains extremely uncertain, and it would seem surprising that this big update of Dauntless saves the furniture, in fact, it is more likely that very few people touch it.
Between the upcoming release of Monster Hunter Wilds and the Epic Games exclusivity, the comeback looks more like a dream than a reality.
