Upcoming Multiplayer Shooter Unveils at The Game Awards Amidst Layoff Concerns Before Launch
Den of Wolves made its debut at The Game Awards 2023 with a gritty cinematic trailer hinting at intense cyberpunk heists. While developer 10 Chambers didn’t showcase any gameplay or announce a release date, the shooter quickly caught the attention of gamers. Fast forward over two years, and it’s still not available, with the studio, known for the hit GTFO, now facing layoffs.
The news about the layoffs surfaced on LinkedIn on February 13, as developers began sharing their experiences. One affected employee remarked, “This wasn’t on my 2026 bingo card, but here we are wearing the green LinkedIn banner for a while.” 10 Chambers later confirmed the layoffs in a statement to an outlet.
The statement read, “We can confirm that we’re taking a hard look at how we work and how the studio is set up, so Den of Wolves can become the game it deserves to be. This unfortunately means a significant restructuring of the studio, impacting a large number of roles, including several of the studio’s co-founders.”
The message continued, “We remain focused on the vision of Den of Wolves. Ulf Andersson and Simon Viklund remain fully committed to the game and to leading the studio forward. When we have more concrete news to share, we’ll do it through our official channels.”
However, one co-founder, Hjalmar Vikström, announced his departure from the studio after a decade. He shared on LinkedIn, “Next up for me is going indie—making way smaller games, focusing on health and family, and just enjoying game development.”
10 Chambers launched GTFO in Early Access in 2019, captivating players with its gritty, claustrophobic co-op horror gameplay. Players took on the role of prisoners battling mutants and navigating hazards while completing vague objectives in an underground complex. Its brutal nature earned it a dedicated fanbase, occasionally peaking at nearly 20,000 concurrent players on Steam and garnering thousands of positive reviews.
Den of Wolves aims to deliver a similarly intense experience but with a more ambitious twist. It blends the smash-and-grab tactics of a heist game with a layer of nightmare-fueled gameplay, where teams hack into fleshy human mind vaults to extract valuable data. This intriguing concept received positive previews in early 2025, yet a launch date remains elusive.
“I’ve been begging management to give us a release window for Den of Wolves in the trailer—but no,” said 10 Chambers’ communications director Robin Björkell alongside a new community gameplay trailer in December. “They won’t budge. These developers really don’t want to make promises they can’t keep for the sake of marketing. It makes my job harder, but as a gamer myself, I respect it. I told them we at least need to prove that the game exists, and that was the starting point for this trailer.”
The layoffs at 10 Chambers reflect a broader trend in the gaming industry, where many companies are struggling in a highly competitive release environment, facing longer development timelines and dwindling investment. Wildlight Entertainment, the team behind the recent PVP shooter Highguard, also experienced significant layoffs shortly after launch, despite a flashy reveal at the Game Awards 2025.
“If you know me, you’ve heard this before: Making games is hard,” the outgoing co-founder of 10 Chambers wrote on LinkedIn. “And these past years have taken their toll. But thinking back, I’m proud of how we managed to punch above our weight and deliver GTFO. Both the Early Access release from a team of 9, and also the releases culminating with GTFO 1.0 from the bigger 10 Chambers team. I’m grateful for the friends I’ve made and everything I’ve learned.”
