Studio Behind Highly-Rated Shooter Metal: Hellsinger (93% on Steam) Suddenly Shuts Down
Hennadiy Chemеris
David Goldfarb, founder and creative director of The Outsiders, revealed on Bluesky that the studio—which has been around for ten years and is part of Funcom—is shutting down.
In 2022, The Outsiders released the old-school-inspired first-person shooter Metal: Hellsinger, which was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from gamers. The game currently holds a 93% rating on Steam.
The decision to close the studio comes just days after Funcom announced layoffs, despite the successful launch of Dune: Awakening, which became the company’s “biggest release” ever. The exact number of employees affected by the closure of the Stockholm-based studio hasn’t been disclosed.
The Outsiders also contributed to the development of Dune: Awakening. Goldfarb noted that both The Outsiders team and Funcom Stockholm staff were already impacted by previous layoffs, and he expressed gratitude for the team’s work on Metal: Hellsinger. He also emphasized that the team intends to continue making games “in one form or another.”
I have not had much time to process the news but all of us at The Outsiders and Funcom Stockholm have been affected by the layoffs at Funcom and our 10 year old studio will be closing. Many of us had survived a near-death studio experience years back when Darkborn was cancelled, and because of this team's loyalty and refusal to quit, Metal Hellsinger was born.
It will always be a high point for me personally and I will be forever grateful we got to make it and for the wonderful team and partnerships that made it happen. We had hoped to do something even better this time. Things don't always go the way you hope. But we are not giving up, and we are going to try to continue on in some new form.
If you think you can help in any way, with business leads, placement for employees, guidance, whatever it is, I would be genuinely grateful if you reach out here. Change is always tough and right now we are all hurting. Thanks so much.
Funcom has not yet commented on the studio’s closure.
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