Fortis Games shut down its San Francisco studio, cutting around 440 jobs

Fortis Games shut down its San Francisco studio on Nov. 10, 2026, cutting around 440 jobs.

Chief Executive Officer Steven Chiang confirmed the closure in a statement to GamesBeat that day. He said the company’s focus would be helping employees find new opportunities. His statement thanked supporters and expressed gratitude for collaboration and friendship over the past five years. Chiang, a former Electronic Arts and Zynga executive who led worldwide studios for WB Games, founded Fortis in 2022.

The studio was fully owned by Las Vegas Sands Corp., which backed Fortis to help the casino brand expand outside of gambling. Patrick Dumont, Las Vegas Sands president in 2022, said the goal was to make interactive entertainment a core pillar for diversifying beyond gambling. Las Vegas Sands was started by Sheldon Adelson, now deceased, and created the Venetian Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. The expectation at Fortis was that Las Vegas Sands would be a long-term investor.

Gustavo Coronet, a game producer at Fortis, said on LinkedIn that Las Vegas Sands chose to end funding and part ways, terminating all contracts worldwide. Coronet said, “end funding and part ways, terminating all of the contracts, worldwide”. Coronet said he was proud of the team’s work.

Fortis announced on Nov. 4 that it was sunsetting Twilight Towers, one week before closing completely. App stores removed the game that day with in-app purchases disabled, and players could continue until servers went offline on Nov. 16, with support through Nov. 30. Fortis said keeping a live game running requires ongoing investment in development, content, servers and player support, but retention was not strong enough.

Steven Chiang cofounded the studio with Shawn Foust and Calvin Lau, who brought experience from EA, Zynga, Machine Zone and Twitch. At launch, the company had 150 staff through the acquisition of Doppio Games in Portugal, Oktagon Games in Brazil and Metagame in Romania. Techtroduce said Doppio, Oktagon and Metagame contributed to Fortis’s ambition of socially connected mobile and live-service experiences focused on long-term engagement and community.

Fortis focused on the next generation of games-as-service with social mechanics for digital societies and enduring group experiences. Fortis’s founders saw online social experiences as a path to something better and more meaningful, and they believed games could become the top form of social entertainment. Core leadership came from executives at Electronic Arts, WB Games, Zynga and Smule.

Chiang left Electronic Arts for Zynga in 2010 based on a belief in games-as-a-service and free-to-play as the future business model. He judged the Mobile Mogul Awards contest for best mobile gaming executives and appeared on a panel at GamesBeat Next 2026. IGN noted Fortis was the latest studio to close after EA shut down BioWare, prompting player campaigns to save its Mass Effect and Dragon Age IP.

Scott Butterworth, the former communications director, said Fortis’s community-focused approach to mobile games did not resonate enough with players to get off the ground. He said more than 400 people lost work, including himself, and that he was relocating to Los Angeles. Pedro Gomes, a concept artist at Fortis, wrote on LinkedIn that the day marked the end of his five-year journey at the company.

No public statement established whether Fortis projects, assets or acquired studios will continue under alternative ownership, leaving Bloom & Breakfast and Mergemon Wilds unresolved. Fortis has not publicly confirmed an exact number of job losses, and Las Vegas Sands has not independently confirmed Coronet’s funding claims. As of Nov. 10, the strongest confirmation came from employee LinkedIn posts and GamesBeat reporting, with no official announcement on final workforce impact.

Techtroduce tied the shutdown to financial challenges facing studios developing ongoing online games. It pointed to the Nov. 30 shutdown of Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War and the dissolution of Nagoshi Studio as related events. Nagoshi Studio dissolved due to changes in financial backing.

Mobilegamer.biz reported dozens of similar LinkedIn messages from departing Fortis staff and said the company did not respond to a comment request. Chiang later sent a statement to the outlet but did not confirm the number of staff affected. Mobile Goddess said if LinkedIn posts are accurate, more than 400 people lost roles and published projects will stop progressing.