MercurySteam announces ‘difficult and painful’ job cuts as its God of War-inspired hack ‘n’ slash arrives on Steam

MercurySteam, the developer behind Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and the Switch exclusive Metroid Dread, has announced layoffs in the same week its latest game Blades of Fire launches on Steam.

“There’s no easy way to share this kind of news, but today we must communicate that MercurySteam has initiated a workforce adjustment process,” the studio wrote in a LinkedIn post (via GamesIndustry) adding that, “while this is something common within the production cycles of our industry, it is nonetheless a difficult and painful situation.”

MercurySteam did not reveal the extent of the job cuts, or which positions would be affected. But it said in its statement that it “will do everything we can to help these professionals find new opportunities”, urging developers with open positions to reach out to the studio.

The developer also didn’t explain the reasons behind the job cuts, although it’s likely related to Blades of Fire’s underwhelming sales. The God of War-inspired action adventure was revealed to have “underperformed” in June last year, with Digital Bros (the company behind publishing label 505 Games) announcing in a press release that it anticipated an €8 million write-off, in part due to the game’s commercial struggles.

It probably didn’t help that Blades of Fire launched as an Epic Store exclusive on PC, in a month that included heavy hitters like Doom: The Dark Ages and Elden Ring Nightreign. Reviews were also on the lukewarm side. Our own Kerry Brunskill awarded it a score of 74 in their Blades of Fire review, praising its combat and innovative weapon forging system, but lamenting how those qualities were hidden under “layers of patience-testing flaws.”

There is a chance Blades of Fire’s fortunes may improve, however. After a year of Epic exclusivity, the game has just arrived on Steam wielding a substantial 2.0 update. Newly introduced features include New Game Plus, a new difficulty level called “Titanium” difficulty that boosts enemy stats while also making boss attacks much more precise, an arena system that lets you fight bosses again after defeating them, and “expanded death and mutilation animations” which is always a bonus. Oh, and it launches with full Steam Deck support too, though it’s definitely a game you’ll get the most out of playing on your big rig.

Whether or not the update will address the issues in the initial release remains to be seen, but as a lifelong fan of Blades of Fire’s spiritual predecessor Blade of Darkness, I hope the Steam release sees MercurySteam’s latest reverse its ailing fortunes.