Wreckreation failed to attract a wide audience, and now the studio lacks the funds to continue operating.
The developers of the arcade racing simulator Wreckreation have announced a difficult decision — the entire team at Three Fields Entertainment has been laid off. According to Fiona Sperry, the decision was forced due to financial difficulties and the termination of funding from publisher THQ Nordic. In a statement published on social media, the co-founder and CEO of the studio called the situation "one of the most difficult in her career."
"I am immensely proud of the people I worked with and the passion they put into this project. But the reality turned out to be cruel. As an independent studio, we will not see any revenue from game sales in the foreseeable future. We had to independently finance most of this year and all post-release content. Without the enthusiasm and financial support of the publisher, we simply cannot continue the studio in its current form. This decision was incredibly difficult."
According to Sperry, the problems started even before the release — due to the structure of the agreement with the publisher, according to which all income from sales first goes to THQ Nordic. Until the publisher recoups its investment, the studio does not have access to profits.
Despite the crisis, the team continued to release updates and was preparing a major patch with cross-play support, which should still be released by the end of the year. Fiona Sperry attached a video demonstrating the planned developments — in the hope that they will interest potential investors and give the studio a chance for salvation.
"I sincerely hope that by showing our work publicly, someone will see the potential in it — and perhaps a new opportunity will arise. But even if this does not happen, we want this work to remain a testament to our vision, strength, passion and skill of our small team. I truly believe in the potential of this game and in the talent of the people who created it."
Three Fields Entertainment was founded by former Burnout developers — Fiona Sperry and Alex Ward. Wreckreation was conceived as a return to the spirit of insane car crashes and the freedom of arcade racing. However, the game failed to attract a wide audience: the peak online in Steam after the release was only 199 people, and now it stays at the level of 10–15 players.
