The cancellation could result in the studio writing off up to $20 million in production costs.
Outriders developer People Can Fly has cancelled an upcoming action adventure title codenamed Project Dagger following a "re-analysis" of its development plans.
The decision to scrap the project will result in the studio writing off between PLN 68.3 million ($16.9 million) and PLN 79.9 million ($19.7 million).
People Can Fly didn't share specifics when explaining why Project Dagger has been scrapped, but said its plans changed due to "unsatisfactory results of the evaluation of the scope and commercial potential of the project after redefining the direction of the game’s development."
"The decision to discontinue further work results in the creation of write-offs as of 31 December 2023 in the amount of 100 percent of the value of expenditure incurred on the project and the write-off of the value of expenditure incurred on the project from the company's accounting books on the date of the decision to discontinue the project," added the company.
Project Dagger has struggled to take flight for a number of years. The title was initially slated to be co-developed and published by Take-Two Interactive, but that agreement was terminated in September 2022.
At the time, People Can Fly CEO Sebastian Wojciechowski said the studio parted with Take-Two on "good terms" and strongly believed in Project Dagger's potential. At that stage, the game was still in pre-production and was in the process of being migrated from Unreal Engine 4 to Unreal Engine 5.
Hard cut to November 2023 and there were more signs of upheaval. People Can Fly issued a statement explaining it would be "redefining" the direction of Project Dagger to address feedback obtained during an external evaluation. At the time, People Can Fly said that pivot would result in Project Dagger missing its 2025 to 2026 launch window. Now it looks like the title will never see the light of day.
It has been less than a year since People Can Fly celebrated the opening a new office in Montreal so its team could "collaborate and transform their ideas into thrilling game experiences." The good vibes, however, didn't last, and the company kicked off 2024 with layoffs after choosing to make some Project Gemini developers redundant.
That project is currently being rescoped by the studio, which continues working on multiple titles including Project Bifrost and Project Victoria—both of which were in pre-production as of January 2023.
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