Metal: Hellsinger Developer The Outsiders Is Shutting Down

The Outsiders, the Swedish studio behind the rhythm-based heavy metal shooter Metal: Hellsinger, is closing its doors as a result of layoffs at developer/publisher Funcom. 

“Change is always tough and right now we are all hurting,’ says The Outsiders’ founder and creative director, David Goldfarb, who took to social media to announce the closure of the 10-year-old studio. You can read his full statement below. 

Friends,

I have not had much time to process the news but all of us at The Outsiders and Funcom Stockholm have been affected by the layoffs at Funcom and our 10 year old studio will be closing. Many of us had survived a near-death studio experience years back when Darkborn was cancelled, and because of this team’s loyalty and refusal to quit, Metal Hellsinger was born. It will always be a high point for me personally and I will be forever grateful we got to make it and for the wonderful team and partnerships that made it happen. 

We had hoped to do something even better this time–

–Things don’t always go the way you hope. 

But we are not giving up, and we are going to try to continue on in some new form. If you think you can help in any way, with business leads, placement for employees, guidance, whatever it is, I would be genuinely grateful if you reach out here. Change is always tough and right now we are all hurting. Thanks so much.

The Outsiders, which was acquired by Funcom in 2021, is another casualty of layoffs across Funcom following last week’s news that the internal development team behind this year’s Dune: Awakening was also impacted as part of a “studio restructuring.” The Norway-based Funcom was acquired by Chinese megacorporation Tencent in 2020 and has studios operating in Romania, Portugal, and the US via North Carolina. 

The now-defunct studio is best known for Metal: Hellsinger, a rhythm-based first-person shooter that was released in 2022. Set in Hell, players wielded a variety of weapons to blast demons to the beats of a heavy metal soundtrack. The game received positive reviews and scored a 9 out of 10 here at Game Informer. Reviewer Wesley LeBlanc wrote, “What the game gets right far outshines what it doesn’t, and the developer, The Outsiders, has created what I hope is just the start of a new FPS franchise set in Hell.”

The Outsiders joins the list of shuttered studios this year, which includes Monolith Productions (Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor/F.E.A.R.), Player First Games (MultiVersus), Cliffhanger Games (Black Panther), and The Initiative (Perfect Dark).