Unforetold: Witchstone entered Early Access in January, and developer Spearhead Games is now ending production “indefinitely” this week on the CRPG after “difficult” financial circumstances that also see the studio laying off most of its staff.
The team shared the news on its LinkedIn, saying that over the past few weeks, “financial prospects that did not materialize” have led them to suspend development as of March 8th, upon release of one final hotfix.
With those disappointing financial circumstances, Spearhead Games is joining the all too long list of companies that have had significant layoffs.
The Montreal-based company has pledged to support the laid-off workers with career counseling, emotional support, and job placement assistance, but this is undoubtedly a brutal market right now, with thousands of game industry employees having been laid off in 2023, and 2024 not letting up in the least, with around 10,000 more in just the first 10 weeks of the year.
Unforetold: Witchstone was revealed in detail back in November at the PC Games Show, and the CRPG offered an interesting influence system that would let you make meaningful player choices. There were sandbox-inspired elements and the team emphasized NPCs having their own preferences, personalities, purposes, and opinions. Eventually, your decisions would impact who trusted and followed you–or who you were able to successfully manipulate–and would affect the final outcome.
The game’s official Discord will also shut down on March 8th, but their social media accounts will remain up, and if there are any more updates down the line, the team is working on a transition to see if they can rebuild.
