Ori studio says it 'might not be around' in a few months due to review-bombing

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Moon Studios, the developers behind the acclaimed Ori series, is facing financial difficulties as it prepares to release its latest ARPG, No Rest for the Wicked.

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Credit: Moon Studios

As outlined in a recent forum post, Moon Studios has been struggling to cover development costs due to negative reviews affecting sales. Studio head Thomas Mahler highlighted, "in people's mind, there's always some big publisher in the background who'll cover costs". However, in the case of Moon Studios, negotiations with its former publisher saw the team go fully independent in March 2025 - leaving the studio without a financial backer.

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No Rest for the Wicked launched in early access on April 19, 2025. The game accumulated just under 15,000 reviews, with a 69% positive rating in its first week. Many players praised the game's art style and cinematic presentation, but criticisms mounted due to the game's "needless" difficulty, performance issues, and general frustrations around the experience.

As it stands, No Rest for the Wicked holds a 74% "Mostly positive" rating on Steam across a sample of 34,000 users.

In his recent comments, Mahler went on to highlight the team's reliance on positive reviews, stating: "it's entirely possible that we won't be around in a couple of months, simply because we got review bombed which leads to people not buying the game."

In the case of No Rest for the Wicked, there doesn't seem to be a malicious intent behind the game's negative reviews. However, as games, particularly independently published titles, rely so heavily on word-of-mouth, Mahler cautions that "if you want to see us actually finish Wicked, it's detrimental that we get that review score back up."