MercurySteam announces 'difficult and painful' job cuts as its God of War-inspired hack 'n' slash arrives on Steam

Blades of Fire's protagonist Aran comforts another character in a tavern bedroom. — (Image credit: MercurySteam)

MercurySteam, the developer behind Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and the Switch exclusive Metroid Dread, has announced layoffs in the same week its latest game Blades of Fire launches on Steam.

"There's no easy way to share this kind of news, but today we must communicate that MercurySteam has initiated a workforce adjustment process," the studio wrote in a LinkedIn post (via GamesIndustry) adding that, "while this is something common within the production cycles of our industry, it is nonetheless a difficult and painful situation."

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The developer also didn't explain the reasons behind the job cuts, although it's likely related to Blades of Fire's underwhelming sales. The God of War-inspired action adventure was revealed to have "underperformed" in June last year, with Digital Bros (the company behind publishing label 505 Games) announcing in a press release that it anticipated an €8 million write-off, in part due to the game's commercial struggles.

Blades of Fire - Official Steam Announcement Trailer - YouTube

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It probably didn't help that Blades of Fire launched as an Epic Store exclusive on PC, in a month that included heavy hitters like Doom: The Dark Ages and Elden Ring Nightreign. Reviews were also on the lukewarm side. Our own Kerry Brunskill awarded it a score of 74 in their Blades of Fire review, praising its combat and innovative weapon forging system, but lamenting how those qualities were hidden under "layers of patience-testing flaws."

There is a chance Blades of Fire's fortunes may improve, however. After a year of Epic exclusivity, the game has just arrived on Steam wielding a substantial 2.0 update. Newly introduced features include New Game Plus, a new difficulty level called "Titanium" difficulty that boosts enemy stats while also making boss attacks much more precise, an arena system that lets you fight bosses again after defeating them, and "expanded death and mutilation animations" which is always a bonus. Oh, and it launches with full Steam Deck support too, though it's definitely a game you'll get the most out of playing on your big rig.

Whether or not the update will address the issues in the initial release remains to be seen, but as a lifelong fan of Blades of Fire's spiritual predecessor Blade of Darkness, I hope the Steam release sees MercurySteam's latest reverse its ailing fortunes.

Rick has been fascinated by PC gaming since he was seven years old, when he used to sneak into his dad's home office for covert sessions of Doom. He grew up on a diet of similarly unsuitable games, with favourites including Quake, Thief, Half-Life and Deus Ex. Between 2013 and 2022, Rick was games editor of Custom PC magazine and associated website bit-tech.net. But he's always kept one foot in freelance games journalism, writing for publications like Edge, Eurogamer, the Guardian and, naturally, PC Gamer. While he'll play anything that can be controlled with a keyboard and mouse, he has a particular passion for first-person shooters and immersive sims.