MMO publisher Daybreak Games acquires Palia developer Singularity 6

As spotted by VGC, Daybreak Games has released a press statement saying that it has acquired Palia studio, Singularity 6.

Palia launched in August 2023 followed by a Switch port in December. It still exists in a pre-release state. It’s billed as a cozy MMO with farming and house decorating. While the press release boasts that Palia has seen 4 million players log in to try it out (note: it is free-to-play) and sees 100,000 daily players, the developer laid off a significant number of its employees following the release of its beta.

For Daybreak Games’ part, they currently keep the lights on in MMOs like Everquest, Planetside 2, Lord of the Rings Online, and DC Universe Online. Daybreak Games also confirmed layoffs this year with “less than 15” roles affected.

Layoffs have sort of become the central theme in the industry these past couple of years, but beyond that, Daybreak Games seems like a relatively decent fit for Singluarity 6. Many of the MMOs it maintains are well past their prime but still receive steady updates.

The acquisition is being framed as a way to get Palia onto more platforms. CEO Ji Ham is quoted on the release as saying, “We eagerly anticipate collaborating with the S6 team to make Palia the best online experience possible across all major gaming platforms and to help continue to expand their community of players for years to come.”

Palia is currently available for PC and Switch. It sounds like it will soon be available on “all the major platforms,” but nothing has been officially announced.