<p>ChronoForge will cease operations by Dec. 30, 2025. The studio announced the closure on Dec. 10 after exhausting all funding options and determining there was no viable path forward for the game or its planned token launch.</p><p>Before the shutdown announcement, ChronoForge launched in Early Access on Sept. 10 and achieved a 4.2 rating on Epic Games. However, the positive reception to the early access release wasn’t enough, as the studio couldn’t secure the funding it needed to continue its operations.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.funjible.games/news/chronoforge-dev-secures-nintendo-switch-publishing-rights">Chronoforge secured Nintendo Switch publishing rights</a> early in 2025, but it turned out to be no help at all.</p><div class="raw-html-embed">
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            Dear Gamers, 
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            Against many headwinds, we have kept the project running, including with personal finances from the founders since July and long hours with a team reduced by 80%. 
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            We launched our game in Early Access on September 10th and despite bugs earnt a 4.2 rating on Epic… <a href="https://t.co/gzWTo8p8Rh">pic.twitter.com/gzWTo8p8Rh</a>
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        — ChronoForge (@playchronoforge) <a href="https://twitter.com/playchronoforge/status/1998501250464362517?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2025</a>
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</div><p>According to the post-mortem released on the&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.com/invite/chronoforge">ChronoForge Discord</a>, the dev team had been working without pay since July, and the studio had reduced headcount by 80 percent early in 2025.</p><h2>The Funding Gap</h2><p>ChronoForge received approximately $4.4 million in funding from the Rift Foundation. The farewell posts on the Discord acknowledge that this was significantly less than comparable projects, pointing to Fableborne's reported $17.9 million raise as a contrast.</p><p>The funding environment for gaming changed from when ChronoForge began development as well. Publishers that might have stepped in with late-stage funding a few years ago have largely retreated from the industry.</p><p>ChronoForge came too close to securing funding multiple times throughout 2025, but all potential deals fell apart one way or another.&nbsp;</p><ul><li>One chain withdrew from gaming entirely mid-negotiation.&nbsp;</li><li>A VC wanted the team to abandon the game and focus solely on their AI technology.</li><li>Another potential investor failed to show up for the final signing meetings.</li></ul><h2>What Happened to the Funding?</h2><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:73.69%;"><img src="https://assets.funjible.games/chronoforge_shutdown_2_0bc383c777.jpg" alt="Chronoforge shutdown screenshot" srcset="https://assets.funjible.games/chronoforge_shutdown_2_0bc383c777.jpg 226w, https://assets.funjible.games/chronoforge_shutdown_2_0bc383c777.jpg 500w" sizes="100vw"></figure><p>ChronoForge started with a modest $2 million budget, but funding began to melt away amid rising development costs. The studio brought on AAA-experienced co-developers in June 2024, and these developers discovered problems that extended throughout the codebase, necessitating a complete code overhaul.</p><p>The rising development costs reduced the game’s marketing budget, so ChronoForge had to handle all media content in-house while pursuing creative solutions, such as a revenue-share program offering creators 50 percent splits.</p><p>The team migrated to Abstract in December 2024, specifically for promised marketing support. However, the expected support didn't materialize in time, causing ChronoForge to increase its marketing spend.</p><h2>What’s Next for ChronoForge?</h2><p>ChronoForge has no plans to pivot to another project. Over 100 artists, engineers, musicians, and community team members dedicated themselves to ChronoForge and are now seeking new opportunities.</p><p>ChronoForge servers will shut down on Dec. 30, along with all development support. The GameFi industry has already seen several&nbsp;<a href="https://funjible.games/news/The-Great-Fade-Why-Crypto-Games-Are-Shutting-Down">crypto game closures in 2025</a>, and teams that currently have funding need to make the absolute most of it, because the next round may not arrive in time.</p><div class="raw-html-embed">
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