Mountaintop Studios shutting down after debut shooter Spectre Divide falls short – Game Developer
TechTarget and Informa Tech’s Digital Business Combine.TechTarget and InformaTogether, we power an unparalleled network of 220+ online properties covering 10,000+ granular topics, serving an audience of 50+ million professionals with original, objective content from trusted sources. We help you gain critical insights and make more informed decisions across your business priorities.The company secured over $35 million to develop the free-to-play title, which will now be scrapped.March 13, 2025Mountaintop Studios is shutting down just six months after launching its debut title Spectre Divide.The studio explained the free-to-play tactical shooter hasn’t delivered the success required to become sustainable. As a result, the title will be axed and Mountaintop will close its doors.Mountaintop CEO Nate Mitchell broke the news in a blog post and explained interest in Spectre Divide has waned following a Season 1 launch that attracted 400,000 players and a peak concurrent player count of 10,000 across all platforms.”As time has gone on, we haven’t seen enough active players and incoming revenue to cover the day-to-day costs of Spectre and the studio,” he wrote.”Since the PC launch, we stretched our remaining capital as far as we could, but at this point, we’re out of funding to support the game. This means Mountaintop will be closing its doors at the end of this week.”We expect to take Spectre offline within the next 30 days, but we plan on disabling new purchases and refunding money spent since Season 1 launch via the platforms. We’ll be following up with more information on this soon.”Mitchell said Mountaintop explored a variety of options in a bid to keep the lights on—including finding a publisher, securing additional investment, or being acquired—but was ultimately unable to carve a path forward.Related:Ice-Pick Lodge founder Nikolay Dybowski departs Pathologic devMountaintop previously secured over $35 million across two investment rounds to develop Spectre Divide.It’s unclear how many people the studio currently employs—with the company having laid off 13 workers in September 2024. At the time, the studio said those cuts would ensure it could support Spectre and its playerbase for the long-term.Mitchell claimed his team ultimately “went down swinging” after rallying to implement critical post-launch feedback.”Game development is full of twists, turns, and surprises, and the industry has changed dramatically since we started the project in 2020,” he added. “Even though we missed the mark this time, we wouldn’t trade the journey for anything.”Read more about:Chris KerrNews Editor, GameDeveloper.comGame Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning journalist and reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton. He has featured on the judging panel at The Develop Star Awards on multiple occasions and appeared on BBC Radio 5 Live to discuss breaking news.You May Also LikeTrendingThe Heritage Foundation’s manifesto for the possible next administration could do great harm to many, including large portions of the game development community.Snapping Your Career into Place with Ben Brode: Game Developer Podcast Ep. 48Preserving the Past With Charles Cecil: Game Developer Podcast Ep. 46On the unionization frontlines with Autumn Mitchell, Emma Kinema and Chris Lusco: Game Developer Podcast Ep. 45Behind the GDC scenes with Beth Elderkin and Sam Warnke: Game Developer Podcast ep. 43Mar 10, 2025Feb 21, 2025Feb 6, 2025Copyright © 2025. This website is owned and operated by Informa TechTarget, part of a global network that informs, influences and connects the world’s technology buyers and sellers. All copyright resides with them. Informa PLC’s registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. TechTarget, Inc.’s registered office is 275 Grove St. Newton, MA 02466.
