Metal: Hellsinger developer The Outsiders shuts down

After ten years of creative highs and hard-fought survival, The Outsiders, the Stockholm-based studio behind Metal: Hellsinger, has officially closed its doors. The announcement came quietly through social media, confirmed by studio co-founder and creative director David Goldfarb, who described the moment as “heartbreaking, but not the end.”

The closure follows a wave of layoffs at publisher Funcom, which had acquired a majority stake in The Outsiders back in 2021. While no detailed explanation has been provided, the decision appears tied to Funcom’s ongoing restructuring efforts as it pivots resources toward Dune: Awakening and other large-scale live-service projects.

“Our 10-year-old studio will be closing,” Goldfarb wrote in a post. “We’ve been through so much together, and I couldn’t be prouder of what this team achieved. This isn’t the end for us just a painful transition.”

For fans, Metal: Hellsinger was the kind of game that shouldn’t have worked on paper but did spectacularly in practice. A rhythm-based first-person shooter set in a world of fire and fury, it blended precision gunplay with headbanging metal tracks from artists like Serj Tankian and Alissa White-Gluz. Its unique concept and raw energy earned it critical praise in 2022, winning awards for both innovation and sound design.

The Outsiders’ story, however, was always one of persistence. Before Hellsinger, the team had spent years working on Darkborn (formerly Project Wight), an ambitious fantasy game that was ultimately cancelled. Many would have stopped there, but the studio regrouped, refocused, and came back swinging with Metal: Hellsinger a project that felt like a rallying cry for creative risk-taking in a cautious industry.

News of the studio’s closure has been met with an outpouring of support from players, developers, and musicians alike. Several industry peers have publicly praised the team’s artistry and offered help in connecting displaced developers with new opportunities.

As of now, it’s unclear what will happen to Metal: Hellsinger or its potential sequel. Funcom still holds the rights to the IP, and while the game’s servers and content remain active, no future updates have been announced.

Goldfarb and other members of The Outsiders have hinted at forming a new independent studio, though plans are still taking shape. “We’re not done making games,” he added. “We just have to find a new way to do it.”

In a year already marked by widespread layoffs and studio closures, the loss of The Outsiders stings all the more because of what they represented: a small, passionate team proving that bold ideas could still break through the noise.

Even in silence, their legacy plays on loud, defiant, and full of rhythm.