Pathfinder Compatible Game Employs Forgotten Developers Amidst Industry Turmoil
An estimated 14,800 game developers lost their jobs in 2024 due to studio consolidation and industry down-sizing. Streetlight Studio is employing some of these developers, and aim to lift their voices in any way they can.
SACRAMENTO, CA - While Street Light Studio, and their Pathfinder Second Edition compatible PC Game Moondrift Memory: Prologue, may be new names in the industry, the people working behind the scenes are not. As Street Light Studio endeavors to unite the tabletop gaming audience and the PC gaming audience with their new CRPG in development, they’ve also vowed to lift up underpaid and laid off game developers.
Moondrift Memory: Prologue is a top-down isometric roleplaying game for PC that is currently in development, and uses the Pathfinder Second Edition ruleset for an immersive experience promising to bring the acclaimed tabletop gameplay to life in a video game experience. Through its crowdfunding campaign currently live on Kickstarter, many announcements have been made about the team working on the project, uniting the writing of tabletop roleplaying game legends Tan Shao Han (Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic, Pathfinder: Impossible Lands) and Michael Sayre (Pathfinder: Chronicles of Legends, Pathfinder: NPC Core) with renowned video game industry professionals like award-winning composer Inon Zur (Dragon Age: Origins, Fallout 3). Other team announcements have included an impressive cast full of recognizable names such as Sean Schemmel (Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon), Dante Basco (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Wars: Rebels), Alejandra Reynoso (Castlevania, Pokémon Horizons: The Series), and several more. But it’s the studio’s focus on its development team that comes at an important time for the industry.
“Thousands of people have had their lives turned upside down and inside out by the industry these last few years,” says Moondrift Memory Executive Producer Jessi Wills. “Streetlight Studio is formed by people who have made games for studios that have been closed down, bought out, or done massive layoffs.” As industry game developers have been pushed to extremes to meet deadlines for low pay, their contracts are often cut short and their work never sees the light of day. 2025 has already seen prominent examples of this, with Warner Bros. Games closing down the development studios Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and Warner Bros. Games San Diego. This comes only a couple months after nearly a hundred developers were laid off from WB Games Montreal. Even high profile games have had their development cut short, such as Monolith’s Wonder Woman video game, which will no longer be finished and released. Other recent examples affect those working in the tabletop gaming space and video game space alike, such as Wizards of the Coast laying off the popular Dungeons & Dragons game designer Andy Collins along with 90% of the team behind the new Project Sigil virtual tabletop platform.
Celine “Ciel” Castro, the Lead Technical Artist on Moondrift Memory, says “This game studio was founded by people who sought to build games from an industry who’s kept designers, developers, and artists in barely living wage conditions.” A lack of industry regulations and the intense competition for developers to be signed to projects have often been cited as reasons for the widespread pay and benefits issues that plague the gaming industry. An estimated 14,800 employees in the video game industry lost their jobs in 2024 due to studio consolidation and industry down-sizing, adding to the lack of stability and pressure developers are facing.
Game developers speak on their work on Moondrift Memory.
“Streetlight Studio has created a space where silenced and underpaid game developers, ranging from programmers to artists and musicians, can connect and collaborate with popular talents in the industry,” says Fae “Maqi” Narayan, one of the illustrators working on Moondrift Memory. The Studio’s spotlight on their development team is amplified by the passion of those creators, and the popular “pathfinder2e” Discord channel has seen them take the lead on interacting with much of the tabletop gaming community as they openly discuss their work and efforts on Moondrift Memory with pride and transparency, easing any doubts Pathfinder fans may have of its translation to the PC gaming space.
About Streetlight Studio
Streetlight Studio is a home to a team of creative powerhouses formed by those impacted by the tumultuous industry, each bringing years of experience in entertainment and technology. With Emmy Award-winning producers and seasoned developers joining forces with famed industry talents, this studio is on a mission to shake up the gaming industry. Streetlight Studio is proudly 100% POC-owned, committed to crafting inclusive, groundbreaking experiences for players worldwide. Their first PC game release, Moondrift Memory, is on Kickstarter until April 17th.
