Samson dev Liquid Swords has reportedly gone bankrupt

Swedish studio Liquid Swords, maker of action game Samson, has reportedly been put into bankruptcy.

Break It (thanks, PC Gamer) reports that the studio’s almost 30 employees will be compensated by the state, and that the bankruptcy trustee is looking for a buyer.

The original report suggests Liquid Swords has not paid its developers for months, but the bankruptcy order, thought to have been issued on 12th October, should mean unpaid salaries will be covered by Sweden’s state wage guarantee.

Christofer Sundberg, who co-founded Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios, set up Liquid Swords in 2020.

Samson: A Tyndalston Story, the studio’s first game, launched on PC on 8th April, followed by PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on 21st September. The studio initially had difficulty securing a publisher, and reviews were ultimately mixed with players complaining of technical and performance issues.

Liquid Swords is the latest studio hit by job losses. On 22nd September, Xbox confirmed 268 more layoffs and moved Rare and World’s Edge under Activision, which will now develop the next Halo game, while Supermassive Games appears to have lost more than 70 staff earlier this month.

Xbox also said that day it was beginning consultation on a proposed closure of Ninja Theory after two separate agreements for the studio fell through.