Evaluating only Skull & Merchant Games’s profile at its peak — without knowing the outcome — the model ranked Unit economics as the #1 likely cause. Documented cause: Contagion.
Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Studio founded by ex-BioWare developers in Vancouver with initial seed from Canada Media Fund.
FUNDING
CAD $38M secured from publisher partnership and government grants to complete narrative RPG.
PIVOT
Engine migration from Unreal 4 to Unreal 5 pushed launch from Q3 to Q4 2023, then delayed again.
SHUTDOWN
Publisher withdrew funding in January 2024; all 87 staff laid off within days as studio declared insolvency.
Full Analysis
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Documented cause
Vancouver-based AAA game studio founded by former BioWare veterans raised CAD $38M from the Canada Media Fund and private investors to build a narrative RPG. After five years in development, the studio missed its Q4 2023 release window twice due to engine migration from Unreal 4 to Unreal 5. In January 2024, lead publisher partner withdrew funding citing risk exposure, triggering immediate insolvency. All 87 employees were laid off with two weeks notice.
Lesson
“Never depend on a single publisher relationship for a multi-year AAA development cycle.”