Highlights:
* The God of War and The Order: 1886 developer has been shuttered after two decades of it was founded.
* The decision was taken by Meta Planforms as a cost-cutting initiative due to Reality Labs’ budget constraints.
Ready at Dawn, the studio known for developing The Order: 1886, was shut down by Meta Platform on Wednesday, August 7, 2024. The shocking news was revealed in a report published by Android Central, which cites an internal memo sent by Meta to its staff. According to the report, Ready at Dawn’s closure has been done as a cost-cutting initiative for Meta’s Reality Labs. Although the studio has been shut down, Meta has reportedly encouraged the Ready at Dawn staff in the memo to apply “elsewhere within Oculus Studios.”
The Order 1886 Maker, Ready at Dawn, Also Developed Three God of War Games, Daxter, And Many Other Titles
Ready at Dawn was founded in 2003 by former Naughty Dog and Blizzard Entertainment employees, who launched their first PlayStation Portable (PSP) game, Daxter, in 2006. Two years later, Ready at Dawn’s God of War: Chains of Olympus was launched on PSP to highly positive critical acclaim.
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The studio also developed Ōkami’s Wii port while launching God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP) and God of War: Origins Collection (PS3) in 2010 and 2011, respectively. After Origins Collection, Ready at Dawn never developed another God of War title, as its next two titles were The Order :1886 and Deformers.
Post Deformers’ launch, Ready at Dawn only developed VR video games. The studio’s first VR game, Lone Echo, and its multiplayer sports mode were launched in July 2017. In 2020, Meta Platforms’ subsidiary, Oculus Studios, acquired Ready at Dawn. After the acquisition, the studio’s last title, Lone Echo II, was released in 2021.
After 2021, Ready at Dawn didn’t launch any games, and it shut down Echo VR in 2023 to focus on future projects. Later, in 2023, as much as a third of the studio’s staff was laid off. Ultimately, in 2024, the studio was shuttered more than two decades after it was founded.
