First reported on Insider Gaming, it's been said that Ballistic Moon, the developer behind the Until Dawn Remake, is now "effectively closed," according to unnamed sources that have knowledge of the ongoing situation. This comes after layoffs that took place in September 2024, where approximately 40 employees were let go. Those who were kept on at the company were only there so that they could provide post-launch support for Until Dawn once it was released in October.
After the release of Until Dawn in October, the company then laid off more staff in December 2024, albeit quietly. During this layoff period, around 20 of the developers lost their jobs. Those who are aware of the situation say that only the studio's founders remain, with the possibility of a handful of employees "at most." The sources have said that there are no employees in public relations, development, or marketing.
Compared to the original Until Dawn, the remake didn't perform quite as well, with a lot of people complaining about the visual changes made to the characters, including the filters and colors that the game had, with them being changed in the remake. However, the game did have a lot of positives, including a new audio score, improved feelings of dread, new endings, and new narrative for players to explore. On Metacritic, the game received a Metascore of 70 and a User Score of 6.5.
Since the game's release, those who have played the game have left comments and feedback for the developers about the bugs they have found in-game and possible patches that need to be made. However, as there are now no developers left, the game can't receive any updates. One source goes on to say, "The studio has effectively closed now."
So far, no one truly knows what is going on with Ballistic Moon, and whether the studio is now in some sort of hiatus, or whether it will go on to close down officially. It's been alleged that the owners of Ballistic Moon have been searching for funding and pitching new projects but without much luck in securing any funding or a publisher for new IP.
"Sony said after the game they might greenlight more funding for updates, but it looks like they didn't," said one source.
When people were asked about the working conditions at the studio, most who responded said that the studio was generally a good place to work in, with positive words spoken about the teams. However, there was an issue of unpaid overtime, with one former employee saying it was equal to "weeks" of unpaid work, where they were then "rewarded" with redundancies across the board.
As of yet, there has been no official comment from Ballistic Moon, and the status of the company is currently undisclosed. Should Ballistic Moon release an official statement, it will be added to this as an update.
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