Key Takeaways
1. Fantastic Pixel Castle will close on November 17, 2025, after failing to secure a new publisher for their MMO project.
2. Studio Head Greg Street expressed sadness over the closure but remains hopeful for potential funding opportunities post-closure.
3. The studio was founded in 2023 by Greg Street and was part of NetEase’s efforts to expand Western game development.
4. Fantastic Pixel Castle was developing a fantasy MMO called Ghost, but the studio is closing due to a strategic shift from NetEase.
5. Despite efforts to find new investors, the studio received no responses, leading to the unfortunate outcome.
Fantastic Pixel Castle shared a troubling update just under a month ago, stating that the studio might “likely close” if they couldn’t find a new publisher for their ongoing MMO development. Sadly, Studio Head Greg Street has now confirmed that the feared outcome has indeed occurred, with the studio set to shut down on November 17, 2025.
Greg’s Announcement
Greg took to LinkedIn to share his feelings about the situation, expressing sadness but keeping a glimmer of hope that funding could still be secured post-closure. In his message, he conveyed:
Fantastic Pixel Castle will close its doors on November 17. While there is still a chance we can secure funding after that date, it will depend on how many team members remain.
We’d love to make our game, however, our main goal is to assist our developers in finding new jobs, whether that’s at indie studio Fantastic Castle 2.0 or at many of the other fine (and hopefully stable) game and tech companies out there.
To the literally dozens of people who reached out trying to help us raise capital, or through introductions to people who could, you humble me. There’s still a chance one of them works out, and it really only takes one.
A huge thank you to our partners at NetEase for taking a chance on us.
Studio Background
Founded by Greg Street in 2023 after his departure from Riot Games, where he was instrumental in the development of League of Legends, Fantastic Pixel Castle was among the veteran-led subsidiaries that NetEase approved in 2022 and 2023 to broaden its Western development efforts.
The studio was tasked with developing a fantasy MMO, codenamed Ghost. However, in late 2024, NetEase altered its strategy, leading to the closure of Fantastic Pixel Castle, T-Minus Zero, Jar of Sparks, and Worlds Untold, all within a single year. To add to the unfortunate situation, none of these studios were able to release even one game.
Greg’s Experience
Greg Street, also known as Ghostcrawler, has a rich history with Blizzard, having served as the lead systems designer for World of Warcraft for a decade. In early October, Street announced that NetEase was withdrawing funding and first-party support for the studio’s project.
Despite their frantic search for new investors and publishers, no one responded, which was yet another setback for this ambitious MMO endeavor.
Source:
Link
Leave a Reply