Frostpunk creators cancel "Project 8" and lay off staff amid concerns that "narrative-driven, story-rich games" don't sell

rockpapershotgun.com:

Frostpunk developers 11 bit studios have cancelled a new, console-oriented game in response to both "shifting market trends" - in particular, declining player enthusiasm for "narrative-driven, story-rich games" - and specific problems during development. As a consequence, a number of 11 bit staff are going to lose their jobs, though at least half of the affected development team are being offered the chance to move to other projects, including a few unannounced ones.

As detailed in an investor release this week, the cancelled game was known as Project 8 internally, and had 37 team members as of September 2024. For context, 11 bit studios currently have over 150 staff, according to their recruitment site. It began development in early 2018, with total development costs of about 48.4 million zloties - around 9.4 million pounds or 11.8 million dollars - by this September.

"Our vision for Project 8, which was intended to be our first title designed specifically for console gamers, was bold and exciting," 11 bit's president of the management board Przemysław Marszał observes in a release. "However, it was conceived under very different market conditions, when narrative-driven, story-rich games held stronger appeal."

Gloominess about the layoffs aside, I'm predictably both intrigued and worried that 11 bit think there's less interest now in games with a pronounced narrative component. Then again, the reasons for the cancellation aren't all macroeconomical. "With Project 8, we experienced both breakthroughs and setbacks," Marszał went on. "During the COVID-19 pandemic, stabilising the development team proved particularly difficult, yet progress continued.

"While we achieved noticeable quality improvements in certain areas, several critical aspects of the game and its development process remained problematic despite multiple iterations," he said. "Over time, delays accumulated, and with each milestone, the project's budget grew."

During the unannounced game's