Dev releases one of the year's best shooters, entire team is laid off less than a month later: "A decision that was completely outside of our control"

Luna Abyss protagonist Fawkes glows pink and stares menacingly.

On May 21, 2026, relatively unknown studio Kwalee Labs launched its cosmic horror bullet hell shooter Luna Abyss after seven long years of development. It seemed like people liked it quite a lot, but less than a month later, the entire development team has been laid off and the studio has been shut down.

At the time of writing, Luna Abyss has 86% positive Steam reviews and a "generally favorable" 81 rating on Metacritic, and if those metrics aren't convincing enough, GamesRadar+'s own Austin Wood called it "amazing." Unfortunately, the game's positive reception wasn't enough to save the entire Kwalee Labs team from being made redundant.