Camelot Unchained studio Unchained Entertainment reportedly laid off 40% of its devs

We’ve acquired some unhealthy information for followers and followers of Camelot Unchained: It seems that Mark Jacobs’ studio Unchained Entertainment has misplaced a big chunk of its group.

Andrew Meggs, a former co-founder of Unchained Entertainment (again when it was known as City State Entertainment) who left for Meta again in 2022, posted to Linkedin that “roughly 24 out of 55 people” at Unchained (so barely greater than 40%) “were let go last week” – a consequence, he says, of “just the recurring game industry grinder of funding and project changes, nothing about the individuals affected.” Meggs had nothing however form phrases for the CSE/UCE staffers, saying he had set “a high bar on hiring” when he labored there and “that culture endured after [he] moved on,” that means the engineers can be hireworthy.

Readers will recall that RvR MMORPG Camelot Unchained was initially Kickstarted back in 2013 and has been in growth ever since, by way of the formation of a second studio and the announcement of a second game utilizing CU’s custom-built engine. Just a yr in the past, the corporate relaunched that second recreation, Final Stand Ragnarok, and revealed it had picked up a new wave of investor funding to get Camelot Unchained to market by the top of 2025. As we noted just a month ago, we have been meant to get a playable slice of the MMO last summer, however that didn’t occur, and whereas FSR noticed updates throughout 2024, it noticed no uptake with gamers. (We went into the whole story back in March of last year in case you want the complete refresher.)

While we don’t but know for positive, it positive appears seemingly that Final Stand Ragnarok, which has never seen more than 42 concurrent players, is in danger, together with its group or presumably one of the corporate’s two studios. Last yr, Unchained’s Mark Jacobs advised us in no unsure phrases that his traders have been conscious FSR may fail however that such an final result wouldn’t spell doom for the MMORPG – in different phrases, that work on Camelot Unchained (and of course, its distinctive engine) would proceed. We’re assuming that since greater than half of the studio was retained, that’s what’s taking place.

We reached out to Jacobs this night for readability and can replace as quickly as we all know extra. We’re guessing the group will probably be getting a memo quickly both manner.