On July 2, 2025, several projects were gutted by Microsoft, including a studio closure. The massive impact of the layoff drowned out troubling news from other studios, including the sudden closure of Cult of the North, the studio behind the free-to-play strategy war game on a massive scale, We Will Be Gods (previously called Project Gundalf).
“The funding’s gone. The studio is dying. But the dream? Still breathing fire,” the co-founder and CEO of Cult of the North, Adam Schaub, wrote on LinkedIn, elegizing the announcement.
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“We built a colossal multiplayer world from nothing. We forged a custom engine that outran the best. And we did it with the most fearsome team I’ve ever known. No safety nets. No shortcuts. Just raw will and talent. If this is failure, we’ll wear it like armor. Our name is carved in the code. Our work will echo. ⚔️ See you in the next world. ”
Schaub co-founded Cult of the North with another video game veteran, Marcus Jacob. In the message announcing the shuttering of the studio, Schaub thanked Jacob saying, “I also want to extend a heartfelt thank you to my brother from another mother, Marcus Jacobs, for the best partnership anyone could have asked for”.
Cult of the North was described as “a collective of gaming veterans dedicated to crafting the next generation of intense, action-packed multiplayer experiences for PC and console”.
The game that Cult of the North was cooking
Cult of the North was founded in 2022 and had its headquarters in Södermalm, Stockholm County, Sweden. However, the studio was officially unveiled in early 2024. Their debut game, We Will be Gods, was previously scheduled to release on PC this year.
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About a year ago, the studio organized a friends and family playtest for their upcoming game. The event was dubbed “A Night to Remember”. A short teaser shared on social media suggested the event was a massive success.
“We Will Be Gods is a free-to-play strategy war game on a massive scale,” read the game’s official blurb on Steam. “Large kingdoms of players must work together to face-off against other player-owned kingdoms, battling it out in massive, months-long wars in a bid to attain godhood and ultimate victory.”
The game was set in Hamarvast, a world characterized by “power struggles, magical chaos, and the ultimate quest for godhood. Players were tasked to forge alliances, spark full-scale wars, or master the art of subtle sabotage to claim victory on your own terms”.
It was supposed to be a large-scale multiplayer where each war would bring a large group of players, split into kingdoms and working together to grow stronger while facing constant shifts in politics, power struggles, strategy, and magical battles. Unfortunately, the game will never be seen, or may be not.
Do you think there is a way that Cult of the North can be saved? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
