Samson developer Liquid Swords shuts down six months after launch
The studio is declared bankrupt
Liquid Swords, the studio behind open-world crime game Samson, is closing its doors just six months after the game's release, adding to a difficult period for developers making games inspired by Grand Theft Auto.
Studio founder and CEO Christofer Sundberg confirmed the closure on October 19th in a post, saying that Samson performed better on consoles than on PC, but the sales were not enough to keep the company going.
“Market conditions and some bad business decisions” contributed to the studio's situation, Sundberg said in a separate statement. He added that the team was proud of what it had built and that discussions were underway about continued support for Samson.
A difficult market
Released on April 8th, Samson puts players in the role of a man trying to pay off a dangerous debt through fights, driving and criminal jobs in the fictional city of Tyndalston. The game was developed as a smaller-scale alternative to large open-world crime games.
Liquid Swords' closure comes after a troubled period for another GTA-inspired title, MindsEye. Its developer, Build a Rocket Boy, faced multiple rounds of layoffs following the game's June 2025 release. Reports in September 2026 said the studio was also winding down.
Both cases show how hard it is for studios to make new crime games succeed when they have to compete with big titles like GTA. Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the few games in this genre to break through and become a major success.
