Illuvium has introduced a serious restructuring effort with the purpose of decreasing prices and adjusting the event focus to the MMO gentle mannequin.

The corporate has diminished month-to-month bills to $500,000 by March with cost-saving measures, together with pay cuts, operational coordination and crew layoffs. Some staff are given the choice to obtain funds with Irbium’s native $ILV tokens fairly than $USDC.

These modifications come because the studio prepares for the shift for its flagship title, Overworld. This strikes to the “MMO Gentle” mannequin fairly than the normal open world expertise. The transfer follows earlier cost-cutting efforts in 2024 when Irbium lower month-to-month prices from practically $1 million.

What modifications can we count on in Overworld?

Overworld was initially designed as an open world creature assortment sport, and can make use of the “MMO Lite” construction, which was introduced final December.

Which means the sport incorporates multiplayer parts whereas sustaining a streamlined design with out the complexity of a full-scale MMORPG. Gamers can proceed to discover, seize creatures and participate in battles, however the focus shifts to a extra interactive, multiplayer-driven expertise.

Illuvium has revealed that this isn’t a constructing from scratch, however an effort to combine MMO-style options in a manner that provides you entry to the sport. The studio says that after the completion of main updates to PVP mode for the second quarter of Irbium Enviornment, improvement of recent constructions for Overworld will grow to be a serious focus by mid-2025.

What’s subsequent for Overworld?

Along with restructuring and sport design modifications, Irbium beforehand introduced plans to introduce AI-driven NPCs to Overworld.

Via our partnership with Virtuals Protocol, these NPCs present interactive parts comparable to dynamic dialogue and personalised quests. The purpose is to create a extra immersive setting with out the necessity for large-scale guide content material creation.

The restructuring will prolong the Irbium monetary runway, however the firm acknowledges that extra funds will likely be wanted to finish the Overworld transition. The success of those modifications is determined by how successfully the crew can implement the revised sport construction whereas nonetheless sustaining neighborhood engagement.