Defiant Development, developers of the Hand of Fate series, has shut down. The move was announced today in a post to the developer’s Facebook page. “The Defiant model has always focused on creating games nobody else would. Games that reflected the skills and passions of our team. Games that did something new. Our process has always been focused on iteration and exploration. We go into dark places, searching for hidden treasures. We set out without knowing where the journey will take us, and we do so knowing that the unknown is not always safe.”, the announcement reads. “That is a risky way to make games, and we knew that. When it succeeds it delivers things you could never have considered possible. When it fails, it leaves you without a safety net.”
Luck of the Draw
The unfortunate news comes as Defiant Development was in the middle of another project, titled The World In My Attic. The game once again works off the theme of a board game and looked to be a bit more of an open-world experience than Hand of Fate. I adored the Hand of Fate games, and there is enough on show in this trailer to make me sad that I’ll never get to play this new game.
Hand of Fate was a cross over between an adventure game, a deck builder, and an action game. The second installment showed that Defiant Development had hit their stride, improving on the original in almost every way. Sadly, it would seem the sales were just not there to back up the studio, and now their doors will close. From this point on, the studio will exist purely in “caretaker mode” to provide continued support for their existing games.
Best of luck to all the staff affected by the closure. Hopefully, it won’t take this talented team too long to find other jobs in Australia’s bustling development scene.