Three Fields Issues Redundancy Notices After THQ Nordic Pulls Support For Wreckreation

Three Fields Entertainment has issued redundancy notices to its entire staff after losing publisher backing for Wreckreation, the studio’s open-world racing project released in October. The move follows a period in which the independent developer says it had been self-funding ongoing work, covering most of the year’s development and all post-launch production on its own. With no projected revenue from sales in the near term and no remaining financial support from THQ Nordic, the studio says it cannot continue operating at its current size.

The studio disclosed the situation in a statement from CEO Fiona Sperry, who said the team had maintained development momentum after launch while addressing community feedback and preparing new features. She described the announcement as a difficult step for a small group that had pushed to stabilize and expand the game during its first months on the market. Sperry said the decision came after THQ Nordic, owned by Embracer Group, showed no interest in further development or in sustaining the project.

Three Fields was founded in 2014 by former Criterion leadership and positioned itself as a successor to the high-impact racing and crash design associated with the Burnout franchise. The studio produced Dangerous Golf, the Danger Zone titles, and Dangerous Driving before taking on Wreckreation, its most ambitious attempt to revive the energy of earlier work through open-world racing combined with user-driven track construction. None of its previous titles gained significant traction, with mixed reviews and limited commercial performance narrowing the resources available for larger ideas.

Wreckreation’s reception reflected that pattern. While the game drew attention for its combination of creation tools and arcade-style driving, reviews repeatedly pointed to issues with handling and inconsistent AI. The design reached for a blend of Burnout spectacle and Trackmania freedom but struggled to secure sustained engagement. The studio said it had a range of additional systems and updates planned that it hoped would extend the game’s longevity and refine its mechanics, some of which it displayed publicly this week.

Sperry released a development video alongside her statement, showing unfinished features and broader plans for the game. She said the decision to publish internal work was an effort to signal what remained unrealized and to attract potential investment. If a partner emerges, the studio could continue development and maintain parts of its team. If not, the material would serve as a record of the group’s intentions and the scale of the planned roadmap.

Sperry also said Three Fields will deliver one more update funded entirely by the studio. The patch is expected to introduce cross-play before Christmas, a feature long requested by players. She said the team intends to release it regardless of the studio’s status to ensure users across platforms can access the same environment.

Embracer Group has faced a prolonged restructuring period throughout the industry downturn, with closures, cancellations, and cost-cutting measures affecting studios across its portfolio. Three Fields’ situation continues this trend, placing another long-running independent team at immediate risk.

Read also, early responses to Wreckreation drew heavily from Luke Reilly’s review on IGN, which examined the game’s attempt to carry forward the Burnout legacy. His analysis outlined how the project’s ambition outpaced its structure, and how the homage struggled to establish a coherent identity of its own despite its clear enthusiasm for the genre.