Daybreak acquires struggling Palia developer Singularity 6

MMO specialist Daybreak has acquired Palia developer Singularity 6 (S6) for an undisclosed fee.

Daybreak, known for developing EverQuest and PlanetSide 2, said Singularity 6 will join its ranks as a wholly owned subsidiary.

"We are thrilled to welcome Singularity 6 to Daybreak Games. S6 is an excellent addition to our development studios, renowned for their success in creating large-scale online games and content," said Daybreak CEO, Ji Ham, in a press release.

"Their debut title, Palia, is a fantastic addition to our online portfolio. We eagerly anticipate collaborating with the S6 team to make Palia the best online experience possible across all major gaming platforms and to help continue expand their community of players for years to come."

Singularity 6 was established in 2018 by a group of Riot veterans and has netted almost $50 million in funding to-date (across multiple investment rounds).

Palia is a strong performer, but Singularity 6 has struggled nonetheless

The studio launched Palia in open beta in August 2023, initially rolling it out through its own PC platform before bringing the cosy community-driven adventure to the Epic Game Store, Nintendo Switch, and Steam.

Palia has attracted over 4 million players since making its debut last year and currently boasts over 100,000 daily active players. Despite those numbers, Singularity 6 has struggled to deliver sustainability and laid off 35 percent of its workforce in April 2024. Those cuts were followed by more redundancies in May.

The LA studio said those layoffs were designed to ensure the "highest-quality gameplay service for long-term stability" while enabling it to navigate a "tough economic period."

"Following Palia's release on Steam, we evaluated the support needed to deliver the highest-quality gameplay service for long-term stability. We made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce, which impacted around 35 percent of our talented and hardworking team members," explained the studio in a statement to IGN in April.

Singularity 6 CEO and co-founder Anthony Leung said the Daybreak acquisition will help "get Palia into the hands of every gamer that wants to play it."

"We believe that we can best do so by partnering up with Daybreak, who have a proven track record of building gaming communities that last for decades, he added. "We look forward to benefiting from their experience, expertise, and investment into Singularity 6 and Palia."