LogInSwitching to a blockchain company wasn't a good sign.
Phoenix Labs
The free-to-play action RPG Dauntless was released in 2019, but Steam users saw it there only less than a week ago. There are players with thousands of hours in the game, but if you thought it would help Dauntless get shiny reviews, you'd be wrong.
At the moment, only 14% of players rated it positively, making the game drown in Overwhelmingly Negative reviews. According to Steam 250, it is the 73rd-worst title on the platform, but why is that?
It's not hard to find the reason if you read the reviews. The biggest complaint people have is Dauntless's questionable monetization policy. While the developer Phoenix Labs wiped players' progress, removing hundreds of items, it also locked a lot of them behind a paywall.
"The game has been gutted. Everything's been stripped down to grinding away at a battlepass for not reason other than to farm the battlepass. But then they also removed weapon crafting to encourage you to pay with premium currency to unlock them instead, and then let's not forget the new weapon locked behind the paid battlepass," said one Steam user.
Oh, and there are loot boxes, apparently, – something we thought was going away from modern gaming, but not in Dauntless, I guess.
"This isn’t about building weapons from the monsters you hunt anymore. The progression feels meaningless. Lanterns, once a fun tool with unique builds around them, are now gutted. Builds are weaker, less customizable, and overall less fun. I can’t even experiment anymore because the best items are locked behind paywalls or egregious time gates," complained another player.
So, who's to blame? Phoenix Labs is an obvious culprit, but there is one more curious power at play. May was a layoff month for the company for a while: it cut 9% of its workforce in 2023 and then some more in 2024. Quietly, without a public announcement, Phoenix Labs was acquired by blockchain company Forte, and this is where the root of the problem might be.
To me, blockchain is all about money, and this, as many players assume, is why Dauntless's monetization policy has changed. We can't be sure, of course, but it seems very likely that the switch of leadership meant a different view on transactions.
Phoenix Labs
Phoenix Labs could not just ignore all this feedback and addressed the concerns in a recent letter. It explained that the progression wipe occurred because it wanted both old and new players to experience modified gameplay systems and get used to them. The developers made a "server-side change that will grant all returning pre-Awakening players with the Golden Claws (radiant Strikers), Twin Suns (shock Repeaters), and Netherlights (umbral Chain Blades) from the start of the game."
Unsurprisingly, the company didn't say much about its desire to suck more money: you'll get one Hunt Pass per season. "These new Hunt Passes do not directly include Platinum (with the exception of if they include a pull from a Canister if you’ve already emptied it). This is a decision we’ve made for the overall health of the game – purchases of the Hunt Pass will be directly funneled back into continued development of future gameplay content for Dauntless."
I guess this is the answer in a way – all your "donations" will support further development. Do what you will with this information.
You can form your own opinion by playing Dauntless and help shape its reputation with your review.
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