Daybreak's acquisition of Singularity 6 comes less than two months after major layoffs at the studio.
Palia developer Singularity 6 is now part of the Daybreak Game Company, which announced today that it has acquired the studio "as a wholly owned subsidiary." The takeover comes less than two months after Singularity 6 laid off 36 employees, reportedly representing roughly 40 percent of its workforce.
"We are thrilled to welcome Singularity 6 to Daybreak Games," Daybreak Games CEO Ji Ham said in the acquisition announcement. "S6 is an excellent addition to our development studios, renowned for their success in creating large-scale online games and content.
"Their debut title, Palia, is a fantastic addition to our online portfolio. We eagerly anticipate collaborating with the S6 team to make Palia the best online experience possible across all major gaming platforms and to help continue expand their community of players for years to come."
Singularity 6 was founded in 2018 by ex-Riot Games developers Anthony Leung and Aidan Karabaich, and announced Palia in 2021. The game entered open beta in August 2023 and launched on Steam in March 2024. It's also available on the Epic Games Store and Nintendo Switch.
Despite a positive reception and good player numbers—Daybreak said Palia has attracted more than four million players as of the end of June 2024, and that "over 100,000 players have been actively enjoying the game daily"—Singularity 6 has struggled. It laid off 49 employees in April 2024, just a couple weeks after Palia arrived on Steam, and then cut 36 more in May, representing about 40 percent of its remaining employees.
Daybreak Game Company, a developer and publisher of MMOs including Everquest 2, DC Universe Online, Planetside 2, Lord of the Rings Online, and Dungeons and Dragons Online, has had some struggles of its own in recent years: In 2022 an in-development Marvel MMO was cancelled, and in February 2024 it laid off "less than 15" employees as part of a "recalibration of our business."
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"From Day 1, we have always wanted to forge alternate worlds that help deepen players’ lives—we believe we are on the path to that with Palia and are ever grateful for the initial player reception and support," Leung said. "But we ultimately want to get Palia into the hands of every gamer that wants to play it and we believe that we can best do so by partnering up with Daybreak, who have a proven track record of building gaming communities that last for decades. We look forward to benefiting from their experience, expertise, and investment into Singularity 6 and Palia."
