Launching May 21, Phoenix Labs' free-to-play monster-slaying MMO Dauntless has had a strong start. By the afternoon of May 23, it boasted a playerbase four million strong. Over half a million of them joined within just the first 24 hours.
Released earlier this week on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Epic Games Store, the game features "true cross-play and cross-progression support." Dubbed "One Dauntless" by the creators, the ambitious undertaking by Phoenix Labs is a games industry first. Though other titles (such as Final Fantasy XIV) have cross-platform PS4 and PC support, most games do not.
Players have already logged over two million hours of playtime in the first few days. Players have gone on over three million hunts since May 21. In the future, Phoenix Labs plans to release the game on mobile devices and the Nintendo Switch. The company also looks forward to releasing large-scale content in the future.
Players take the roles of Slayers, heroes who risk their lives to defend their communities from Behemoths. Slayers are the only defense between the denizens of the Shattered Isles and the Behemoths that would destroy them. Arming themselves with weapons such as pistols, giant axes, chain blades, and swords, they face down giant monsters in deadly combat. They can fight alone or team up with up to three other Slayers. Once they slay the great beast, they harvest it for materials for weapons and armor.
That said, the strong start has had its problems. Many players are reporting long waiting queues to play the game, something developer Phoenix Labs is addressing. Most recently they've said they are increasing their capacity and yesterday they said they've doubled the number of players who could play online versus the day before.
