After ten years of creativity, The Outsiders, the studio behind Metal: Hellsinger, is set to close its doors. This closure is a consequence of the layoffs recently announced by Funcom, following the company’s most successful release to date.

In a heartfelt message shared on Bluesky, founder and creative director David Goldfarb expressed his emotional response to the unfolding situation. “Since the announcement, I haven’t had much time to process. The layoffs have impacted everyone at The Outsiders and Funcom Stockholm, and our ten-year-old studio will be closing,” he stated.

Goldfarb continued, reminiscing about the studio’s resilience after Darkborn was initially canceled, which ultimately led to the birth of Metal: Hellsinger. This game, released in 2022, garnered an ‘overwhelmingly positive’ rating on Steam.

Related Projects:

• Darkborn, originally teased in 2016, was shelved in 2020 and faced a troubled development before the studio pivoted to creating Metal: Hellsinger.

While Goldfarb didn’t disclose the exact number of layoffs from this closure, the Funcom website indicates that the Stockholm team usually numbered around 60 employees. Funcom’s recent layoffs come just months after the launch of Dune: Awakening, touted as the biggest release in the company’s 32-year history, which consequently left many who contributed to its success without jobs.

“There’s always hope for something new and better,” Goldfarb concluded in his statement, “We will do our best to move forward in another form.”