According to Kotaku, Three Fields Entertainment, the UK indie studio founded by Burnout series veterans and led by CEO Fiona Sperry, has issued a notice of redundancy to its entire staff, putting all jobs at risk. The studio, which self-funded development and post-launch content for its open-world racing game Wreckreation throughout 2024, will not see revenue from the game for the foreseeable future after publisher THQ Nordic declined further financial support. On Tuesday, December 10, Sperry announced the studio is launching a Patreon page for direct fan funding, calling it an “interesting journey” the team is keen to learn from. The studio still plans to release a crossplay update for Wreckreation before Christmas, again at its own cost. This move comes as a stark indicator of the severe funding challenges facing even established game developers.
Publisher Pullback Is The Killer
Here’s the thing: this isn’t a story about a failed game. This is a story about a broken funding model. Three Fields did the work—they shipped Wreckreation in October and have been grinding on post-launch updates—but the publisher, THQ Nordic, just… stepped away. Sperry’s statement is brutally clear: “Without the enthusiasm or financial support from our publisher to continue development, we simply cannot sustain the studio.” That’s the reality for so many mid-sized studios right now. They’re utterly dependent on a partner that can change its mind on a dime, leaving them holding the bag after years of work. It’s a precarious way to run any business, let alone one as costly as game development.
Patreon Is A Symptom, Not A Solution
So they turn to Patreon. Look, I get the instinct. When traditional avenues dry up, you go direct to the people who love your work. But let’s be real: for a studio of this size, with a full staff on payroll, Patreon is a Hail Mary, not a business plan. It’s a way to maybe buy a little time while they hunt for that white-knight investor or new publisher Sperry mentioned. The funding climate is just that dire. We’re seeing it everywhere—Romero Games losing funding, overall gaming startup funding tightening. When even the creators of Burnout can’t secure stable backing, what chance does anyone else have?
The Human Cost Of Redundancy
We can’t gloss over the “notice of redundancy.” That’s the UK’s required legal step before layoffs, and it means every single person at that studio is staring at unemployment right before the holidays. Sperry called it “unbelievably painful,” and that’s probably an understatement. This is the brutal math of the industry: when the money stops, the people suffer. They’re still pushing to deliver that crossplay update—a feature fans asked for—which is a testament to their professionalism, but it must feel like building a deck on the Titanic. Their work becomes a “testament to our vision,” as Sperry said, which is a beautiful but heartbreaking sentiment when your livelihood is on the line.
Is This The New Normal?
Basically, Three Fields is doing what a small artist or YouTuber does, but at studio scale. And that’s a worrying pivot. It signals that the middle ground—the space for experienced teams making solid, niche games—is evaporating. You either go huge with a mega-publisher or go tiny and scrappy, begging fans for support. There’s less and less room in between. Even creative legends aren’t immune, as Keita Takahashi’s recent project showed. So, is Patreon the future for studios like this? Probably not. But it’s a desperate, telling sign of a present where the old rules don’t work anymore, and nobody’s sure what the new ones are.
