Mobile Game Studio Hardball Games Shuts Down in Just Three Years

Hardball Games, the game development studio founded by Jason Avent, is closing its doors just over three years after it started.

Avent, who previously led CSR Racing developer Boss Alien, started Hardball Games with two experienced colleagues - Chris Bowles (another Boss Alien veteran) and Julian Adams (formerly at TT Odyssey).

The team is backed by significant funding. In February 2023, they raised £4.3 million ($5.2 million) in a seed funding round led by Griffing Gaming Partners, with additional support from Playdemic founders.

The studio developed "OutRage: Fight Fest," a 16-player fighting game that launched on Steam last year. According to Avent, the team initially planned to release it as a free-to-play title across multiple platforms.

"But gradually during 2023, the market went cold, the money taps all turned off and the conversations we were having all went dry," Avent explained in a LinkedIn post. This forced the team to change course and release a paid game solely on PC.

Despite positive reviews, finding players proved extremely difficult. As Avent pointed out, "A great core game is not enough to guarantee success any more." The gaming market has become incredibly crowded, with thousands of new games releasing monthly and established hits dominating players' time.

"I've been making games for 30 years now and I've never known it to be as tough a business as it currently is," Avent shared. He noted that while some indie games like Balatro manage to break through, Hardball's attempt to create a mainstream game for a niche Steam audience didn't work out.