Poor launch of Unforetold: Witchstone forces Spearhead Games to lay off majority of staff and cease development

Canadian indie developer Spearhead Games, best known for games like Stories: The Path of Destinies and Omensight, has faced serious financial struggles. As a result, the studio had to lay off the majority of its team.

Spearhead co-founders Atul Mehra and Malik Boukhira issued a joint statement on X (formerly Twitter), saying that the past few weeks have been challenging as the “combined impact of financial prospects” didn’t materialize.

It is unclear how many people were laid off, but the official LinkedIn page says it had just under 40 employees. The studio also pledged to support those affected.

“We have hired companies to help with personalized career coaching, emotional support, networking, and job placement assitance,” the statement reads. “We call on the games industry in Montreal and around: if you have space, give our incredibly talented people a chance and you will be amazed.”

An important message from Spearhead Games. pic.twitter.com/IqT8c26lJa

— Unforetold: Witchstone (@WitchstoneGame) March 5, 2024

In addition to the job cuts, Spearhead Games has decided to stop further production on its new RPG Unforetold: Witchstone, which will receive its last patch on March 8.

Launched in Early Access on January 25, the game currently has a “Mixed” rating on Steam, with 60% of only 68 user reviews being positive. Many players now don’t recommend Unforetold due to Spearhead’s decision to cease the development, but early reviews also mention bugs and the high price of $34.99.

According to SteamDB, Unforetold: Witchstone only peaked at 109 concurrent players.

Spearhead Games was founded in 2012 by experienced game developers, Atul Mehra (development director of the Army of Two series), Malik Boukhira (game designer of Assassin’s Creed 2 and Dead Space 3), and Simon Darveau (design director of Assassin’s Creed III). The latter left the company in 2016, currently working as an independent game design consultant.

The studio came to light with co-op action title Tiny Brains, which was released in 2013 on PC and PlayStation. Spearhead then created multiplayer sports game ACE – Arena: Cyber Evolution, which didn’t survive the Early Access, and action murder mystery title Omensight. However, it is best known for its hack and slash action RPG Stories: The Path of Destinies, which received positive reviews and even peaked at over 81k concurrent players during the free weekend in May 2018.