Free Monster Hunter alternative Dauntless is shutting down

It sounds like a dream game for many: A free-to-play alternative to Monster Hunter with a steady influx of brand-new content and systems keeping it fresh. That was the idea behind Dauntless, a title developed by Phoenix Labs. Fans enjoyed the game for several years, some putting several thousand hours into it over that time, but it looks like its sustainability was simply not on the level required to go any further.

“Dauntless is shutting down on May 29, 2025,” a message on the game’s Steam page revealed on Monday. “Dauntless will receive no additional content or updates. The game will no longer be available to play on May 29, 2025.”

Substantial layoffs at Phoenix Labs preceded this message a few weeks ago, leaving not much more than a skeleton crew of developers. A planned major update to the game was delayed at the time, but now it will never see the light of day.

Dauntless was initially released in 2019 for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch with next gen ports coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S in 2021. Produced by a team consisting of former Riot Games, Blizzard Entertainment, BioWare, and Capcom employees, the game managed to garner much attention and recorded more than three million players across platforms in its first year.

However, the game entered a steady decline in the following years and seemingly never made enough money to become really sustainable. A major update released in December 2024 – at which time the game finally came to Steam – received massive backlash from players due to loot boxes and other aggressive monetization methods being introduced in an attempt to turn the financial situation around.