Forte's Secret Acquisitions of Gaming Studios Revealed Amid Layoffs and Closures
Despite raising significant funding, Forte's ventures into gaming were marked by secrecy, layoffs, project cancellations, and general confusion.
Two prominent gaming studios were secretly acquired by blockchain technology company Forte, with employees directed to maintain strict silence about the ownership, multiple former staff members revealed to Game Developer this week.
The previously undisclosed acquisitions of Vancouver-based Phoenix Labs and mobile developer Rumble Games marked Forte's push into traditional gaming markets alongside a broader shift in the company's business strategy.
Forte, established in 2019 by Kabam founder Kevin Chou and former GarageGames executive Josh Williams, initially gained prominence by raising nearly $1 billion in venture capital, including a $725 million Series B round in 2021. Major investors included Cosmos, Polygon Studios, and Solana Ventures, alongside venture capital Andreessen Horowitz, Sea Capital, Warner Music Group, and Animoca Brands. Forte seemed set to become a leader in Web3 gaming with an interoperable and compliant platform.
The firm acquired Phoenix Labs from Singapore-based Garena in 2023, following the studio's success with the online action game Dauntless and farming simulator Fae Farm. According to five former employees interviewed by Game Developer, staff members were verbally instructed to keep Forte's ownership confidential. New hires reportedly learned about their actual employer only after signing employment contracts.
Similar secrecy surrounded Forte's acquisition of Rumble Games from Australian gambling machine manufacturer Aristocrat Leisure in March this year. The studio, known for Alliance: Heroes of the Spire, was developing the NFT game Towers and Titans when Forte took ownership.
Forte's spokesperson acknowledged the acquisitions were deliberately unannounced but claimed no formal non-disclosure policy existed. The company confirmed it is "not currently seeking new partners or funding on paused projects" while continuing to support Phoenix Labs' active games.
Former Bungie general counsel Don McGowan noted that while the secrecy surrounding these acquisitions was unusual, it did not appear to violate any regulations.
The takeovers became public after former Phoenix Labs principal engineer Kris Morness disclosed Forte's ownership in a LinkedIn post following his layoff. Former employees suggested the secrecy may have stemmed from concerns about negative perceptions of NFT and blockchain-based games, though this remains unconfirmed.
Both studios were axed within two years. Phoenix Labs saw the departure of its interim CEO Neil Young in early 2024, followed by the cancellation of multiple projects, including the nearly completed multiplayer RPG game Project Dragon. Despite initially promising development teams three months to secure alternative funding, Forte implemented widespread layoffs in May and shut down the studio's game servers by August.
Rumble Games met a swifter end, closing entirely in July, just four months after its acquisition. Former employees described their experience as a "shitshow," citing minimal communication from Forte and confusion over employment status during the transition period. Engineer David Bethune denounced on LinkedIn the "ruthless" behavior of Rumble's previous owners in their pursuit of "mythical future profits."
Forte seems to have shifted from being exclusively a blockchain gaming infrastructure provider to positioning itself as "the premier on-chain compliance solution for blockchain projects." Forte's social media presence and corporate communications have remained largely dormant throughout 2024, except for a blog post regarding the U.S. presidential elections
Additionally, Forte's collaboration with Zynga on the blockchain game Sugartown since August 2023 ended last month when key Zynga executives departed to form D20 Labs. The company maintains its $500 million investment in autonomous GameFi ecosystem Game7, operated by Windranger Labs.
Phoenix Labs continues to operate Dauntless and Fae Farm, though former staff report reduced development support and delayed content updates since Forte's takeover. The long-term future of these titles remains unclear as Forte continues to operate under secrecy.
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