Less than a month after warning that Fantastic Pixel Castle would “likely close” if it couldn’t find a new publisher for its in-development MMO, studio head Greg Street has confirmed that the worst has come to pass. The studio will officially close its doors on November 17.
In a message posted to LinkedIn, Street mentioned that it’s possible the studio might secure funding after the closure date. However, this will depend on how many team members remain. “While we’d love to make our game, our first priority is to help our developers find employment, whether that’s at indie studio Fantastic Pixel Castle 2.0, or at many of the other fine (and hopefully stable) game and tech companies out there,” Street wrote.
He also extended his gratitude to NetEase “for taking a chance on us.”
Greg Street was previously heading up the development of the League of Legends MMO before leaving Riot Games in 2023 to launch Fantastic Pixel Castle. The studio was working on an all-new MMO for NetEase called Ghost.
Fantastic Pixel Castle was among several veteran-led studios launched by NetEase in 2022 and 2023. However, in late 2024, NetEase shifted away from this strategy, shutting down multiple studios within a single year. Alongside Fantastic Pixel Castle, Worlds Untold, Jar of Sparks, and T-Minus Zero were also closed.
Notably, none of these studios managed to launch a single game before their closures.
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/the-mmo-being-led-by-former-wow-designer-greg-street-looks-to-be-dead-as-his-studio-officially-closes-after-netease-ends-funding-while-wed-love-to-make-our-game-our-first-priority-is-to-help-our-developers-find-employment/