Due to the failure of Stormgate, its creators might face layoffs
Frost Giant Studios CEO Tim Morten does not rule out the possibility of layoffs at his company due to the weak launch of the strategy game Stormgate.
Stormgate
In a conversation with Game Developer journalists at Gamescom 2025, he disclosed that on its release day, August 5, 2025, Stormgate's peak online presence on Steam was less than a thousand players. For comparison, when the game was in early access, it attracted nearly 5,000 concurrent users at its peak.
The trend of Stormgate online in Steam
According to Morten, the game understandably doesn't generate "significant" profits, although he did not mention any approximate figures. Consequently, Frost Giant Studios is currently experiencing tough times.
At present, the manager sees two possible solutions to the situation — layoffs and the search for a partner. Morten suggests that Frost Giant Studios could create a new RTS based on a well-known IP or work with UGC tools.
During the interview, there was also a discussion regarding where Frost Giant Studios spent nearly $40 million in investments. Morten indicated that the bulk of it went toward employee salaries. He admitted that he does not consider this budget particularly large for such games — in his opinion, if Blizzard decided to create a new StarCraft, it would cost them significantly more.