Shroud’s Spectre Divide lays off staff after post-launch nosedive

The rocks are falling from the Mountaintop Studios as Spectre Divide's player count avalanches.

26th Sep 2024 16:00

Image via Mountaintop Studios

Spectre Divide Nosedive

The tactical shooter market is absolutely jam-packed in 2024, and the latest title to try and penetrate it appears to be rebounding straight back and off the edge of a cliff.

Spectre Divide is a new tac shooter where 3v3 becomes 6v6 via the throw of a dice. It has only been out in full for a matter of weeks, but already, it's in a world of trouble. Less than a month after launch, Spectre Divide's developers at Mountaintop Studios have laid off staff, and the player count continues to avalanche.

Mountaintop Studios lays off staff three weeks after Spectre Divide's launch

Reports have claimed that the studio behind Spectre Divide has now cut down on its staff following the game's September 2 release.

In a statement provided to Polygon Senior Reporter Nicole Carpenter, Mountaintop Studios has "made the difficult decision" to lay off 13 members of its staff.

Mountaintop Studios CEO and co-founder, Nate Mitchell, said, "To make sure we're set up to support Spectre and its community for the long term, we made the difficult decision to reduce 13 full-time roles at the studio."

The decision comes after Spectre Divide dropped out of the Top 200 games on Steam, peaking at just 6,104 players in the last 24 hours (according to Steam Charts). This a 75% drop off from its all-time peak.

Even Mountaintop ambassador and legendary content creator Michael "Shroud" Grzesiek doesn't seem in love with the title, preferring to stream Valve's Deadlock. A quick look at Shroud's recent streams show how the arena-MOBA-shooter hybrid has dominated them.

In the last 30 days (which includes the Spectre Divide launch), Shroud has streamed 36 hours of his own game while spending a whopping 131 hours on Deadlock - over four times the amount. Despite its concept being applauded, a wilting employee count matching the players means the future for Spectre Divide doesn't appear to be bright. 

Jack Marsh

About The Author

Jack Marsh

Jack is an Esports Journalist at GGRecon. Graduating from the University of Chester, with a BA Honours degree in Journalism, Jack is an avid esports enthusiast and specialises in Rocket League, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and trending gaming news.

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