Metro Rivals Development Suspended

an update from dtg:


Following a review of our project portfolio and priorities, we have taken the difficult decision to suspend further development of Metro Rivals.

This was not an easy decision. The project has benefited from a tremendous amount of commitment, creativity, and dedication from the teams, and we would like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to its development.

Like many companies across the video games industry, we are operating in a more demanding economic environment, shaped by rising costs and increased scrutiny over how resources are allocated and what our teams focus on. Over recent months, we have worked diligently to adapt to this context in a responsible way. This review now leads us to focus our efforts on the areas where we are best positioned to deliver the strongest experiences for our players and to support the company’s long-term development.

In this context, these changes will have an impact on certain roles within the company. We are fully committed to supporting those affected with care, respect, and responsibility.

Our path forward is clear: we remain fully focused on developing our existing portfolio of rail simulation experiences, with the ambition of continuing to deliver high-quality content and ever more engaging experiences to our community.

We warmly thank our community for its understanding and continued support.


could this be so they can focus on fixing tsw for the time being?

 

I would hope tsw gets alot more focus and attention. But we will see

 

Oh well - Nevermind. It was never going to appeal to most of us anyway.

Who knows if the team will get redeployed to TSW. I doubt it. They always said it was a completely different team. More likely cutting costs where they didn't see a viable return. Things seem pretty tough in the gaming industry right now. I hope people won't lose their jobs, but from the article it seems possible.

 

This news doesn’t really affect me. I wasn’t really interested but I do feel bad for those who were looking forward to this game. Even if it was only a small amount of people….

 

i’m sure there’s plenty of scope for job creation within tsw

 

Woah this is categorically bad news imo. However we feel about its merits, they clearly had already put a ton of time and money into the project.

Sounds like major financial difficulties at DTG and/or Focus.

Kinda makes the end of March DLC dump look even more desperate. Don't think this will be the final shoe to drop sadly

 

Hopefully those employees directly involved are offered other positions within DTG. No one ever deserves to lose their job.

 

Do you have a source for this?

 

"the tsw and metro rivals teams are not the same"

it seems that they are...

 

Discord and Steam.

 

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3024160/view/533254919076970812

 

Knew something would collapse in DTG. It seems like with UE5, they bit off more than they can chew.

Let's hope this brings more focus onto TSW, and actual progress is made.

Hell, they may even salvage some features from metro rivals and implement/backport it into TSW, things like procedural generation.

 

Alas it potentially causes us issues, if it means the studio is going broke and cannot afford to pay for new content.

 

nah... they just bit off more than they could chew
and remember that they report (since 2023 if my memory serves me right) to focus
so the order may have come from above

 

I'm guessing this is just marketing hooter for
"people have lost their jobs"

sad if this is the case.

Couldn't DTG just transfer them over to work on TSW?

 

At the end of the day, as long as the devs remain employed at DTG, then it's not been a total loss, just as a learning experience. I'm not all that surprised, it was always clearly a practice project that at some point they figured they might be able to monetise. Better to make the call to pivot away from that when it looks like it's unlikely to recoup enough of the marketing budget, than to get caught up chasing sunk cost...

 

I’m guessing that having either one team for development across both games wasn’t going to work (same devs working on UE4 & UE5 titles at the same time probably wouldn’t be…productive), or someone finally realised there was no way a UE4 studio of DTG’s size could simultaneously have a UE5 team & make it work financially, especially with a title that wouldn’t offer a huge scope of DLC potential, at the costs they’d need to sell at to a community that id imagine would be tiny.

In any case “we have worked diligently to adapt to this context in a responsible way” is the biggest pile of utter manure DTG has come out with in a long time, the abhorrent state of TSW at the moment is likely no small contributor to what has (unsurprisingly, though I at least thought they’d get it out the door) happened with Metro Rivals.

 

Not the first time DTG suspends a title
https://live.dovetailgames.com/live/live/articles/article/flight-sim-world-closure-announcement

 

Suppose would not have stood much of a chance against microsoft flight simulator.

 

They tried to get a foot in the flight sim market, didn't turn out the way they hoped. I mean, sometimes you gotta gamble. Their investments in TSW paid off, so far.

 

one feature in metro rivals that could easily be implemented in TSW is procedural generation. As it can be backported up to UE3 and can be easily implemented in UE4.


For those who don't know.

procedural generation is the algorithmic creation of data, such as game levels, textures, or 3D models, using computer rules and randomness rather than manual design

In TSW terms means this;

with a standard route in TSW, scenery is manually placed, so take for example a road, with street lights on it. first you lay the road, then add street light assets to the pavements by manually placing it.

however, with procedural generation, it places it all at the same time algorithmically, which could save a good amount of development time. And fills in a lot of things without using as much effort or struggle a TSW dev would be doing manually.

It creates scenery like this, like in metro rivals, notice how scenery is a lot more dense?

Now, this feature isn't flaw free, you'll get scenery that looks out of place.

Whilst yes, it does make scenery more dense saving Devs time. It is COMPUTER GENERATED meaning it may not be accurate to real life.

You also gotta think about performance too, would the higher density of buildings cause performance related problems?


But, with trial and error, it could be used effectively.

 

“with the ambition of continuing to deliver high-quality content“….to me that doesn't read well either. Hardly a firm commitment to TSW honestly but lets hope they can focus on the real money making side of the business from here on in.

 

The real money making side of the business may be releasing more average-quality and recycled content, so be careful what you wish for.

 

At least we still have Denshattack!

 

That may be but no one can accuse DTG of spreading themselves too thinly then.

 

Hopefully this means the preservation crew returns to fix outstanding bugs with DLC and bring older routes up to current standards, or hopefully more resources can be allocated to patches and bug fixes

 

It’s very good news for us and I think a sensible decision for DTG because the game sort of was neither one thing or another and imo would probably have flopped. I doubt too many of us would have bought it, certainly not me.
Thomas on the other hand has more stable roots and will be a success, though not my cup of tea I can see the attraction as it’s grounded in a real area of interest, whereas MR certainly wasn’t. Sort of Mad Max meets the NYC subway! Perhaps the real thing can now be added?
I hope we get to see development now in TSW on slightly better planned routes for those interested in fast services, hence more intermediate stops, so more extended routes if fast trains run.

Also more long distance freight that actually brings meaning to driving them by extending the routes, ideally so rather than just picking up a freight run somewhere in the middle and driving from A to B we can actually either see the making up of a freight service at its point of origin at the beginning, or alternately its point of termination, or at least some drop offs to industries along the track. This would make for much more rewarding freight train driving and make them appeal to more players.

 

They haven't even got a grip on UE4, so jumping into UE5 was like buying a Mclaren P1 as a first car.

 

Sad to hear a game getting cancelled, personally wasn't my cup of tea, wonder what the final cause was tho, technical issues with UE5 or financial, either way hope the staff found other jobs to go too.

 

Hmmmm. In my experience in the world of software, when a company makes an announcement like this it's anything but good news for everyone - staff and customers alike. Staff will be laid off or moved to jobs that they didn't sign up for, eventually leaving... Remaining staff will be "asked" to do more, eventually leaving... Customers will be "asked" to pay more for less, eventually leaving... I really hope DTG have the backing and resources to be able to make this pivot without the nightmare scenario playing out

 

Yeh kinda agree TBH, but 1 thing I've learned being in the SIM world for as long as i have, we are a loyal bunch, yes we b_tch and sometimes moan, but generally on the whole we kinda stick by our chosen platforms.

 

One has to wonder if this means the internal team will be transferred back to working for TSW/Will DTG begin making their own UK content again.

 

I can’t really help but laugh at this predicament DTG have put themselves in, clearly they bit off more than they could chew and it’s took them this long to realise that.
None of us really cared about this game to begin with, as all it did was shift attention from TSW (them bugs aren’t going to fix themselves).
Only 5 months until TSW7 too, I’m guessing they need all their devs on deck to continue working on the 3 core routes. I wonder what they’re cooking up? They could be some of the most ambitious routes yet.

 

Well with player numbers (according to Steam DB) for Thomas down into double figures for the Steam edition it looks like once again their attempts to broaden into other games has fallen flat on its face, costing god knows how much money in the process. Can’t say I’m surprised at Metro Rivals though, as I’ve said until blue in the face efforts should have been focused on winning MTA over to allow research access for a proper NYC Subway route in TSW.

While many of us are rightly critical of the assorted issues in TSW, both quality of content and core, I do actually hope this doesn’t mean that is also scuppered and that the software house is on the verge of collapse. Thing is, DTG know how they can make money - start taking on board some of the more sensible route and train ideas from the Suggestions forum.

As regards future IP’s maybe they should stick closer to what they (can do) best. Something revolving around transport in a genre that’s known to be popular. A strategy game similar to Transport Fever or Cities Skyline, perhaps.

 

What a waste of money for DTG, but I am glad they didn’t shift it out the door before abandoning it like flight sim world. The thing is even if the devs can be moved to TSW it still doesn’t account for DTGs QA department either being pretty bad or nonexistent, and their willingness to just sit on patches for half a year before pushing them.

 

I don’t really understand why DTG isn’t focusing on what actually brings in the money.

The money that’s been wasted could have been invested in a new country like France, where French players have been praying for real French DLC ever since the TSC era.
Adding a country with demand will attract more French players who will buy it, including a good number of those still on TSC French mods, as TSW currently has almost nothing to offer for France.

 

Looked up DTG's financials, they seem to be doing fine.


Financial information for Dovetail Games (legally Railsimulator.com Ltd) is available through public filings because they are a UK-based company and, more significantly, a subsidiary of a publicly traded French group.

Dovetail Games was acquired by Focus Entertainment (now rebranded as Pullup Entertainment) in April 2023. Consequently, their financial health is now reported as part of Pullup Entertainment’s consolidated results.

Recent Financial Performance (2024–2025)
Based on the most recent annual reports for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025:

• Profitability: The parent group, Pullup Entertainment, returned to a net profit of €19.4 million for FY 2024/25, a significant recovery from a net loss of €19.9 million the previous year.
• Dovetail's Contribution: Dovetail Games is specifically cited as a strong performer within the group. Their latest major release, Train Sim World 5, reportedly outperformed previous versions in terms of revenue and player engagement.
• Revenue Growth: Before the acquisition (FY 2022/23), Dovetail was generating roughly £15 million in annual revenue. Under the new parent company, they have been integrated into the "Focus Entertainment Publishing" division, which saw revenue jump by 108% group-wide this past year, largely driven by major hits like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 alongside the steady "back catalogue" revenue from simulation titles.

Financial Performance of TSW6
According to the CEO's commentary and the revenue breakdown:

• "Solid Business Performance": Train Sim World 6 (released September 30, 2025) is officially categorized as having achieved a "solid business performance" during its launch quarter.
• Revenue Contribution: TSW6 was a primary driver of the €20.1 million generated by "New Releases" in Q3. While this was lower than the previous year (which had the outlier success of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2), the company noted it met expectations for the simulation segment.
• Expansion of Recurring Revenue: The game is viewed as a "Live Service" success. It contributed to the record-breaking €137.1 million in "Back Catalogue" revenue (which includes older TSW routes), proving that the strategy of carrying over DLC from previous games continues to stabilize the company's income.

Edit: Sources:

https://cdn.focus-home.com/admin/in...de_presse/pullup_q3_fy26_pr_english_final.pdf

https://www.actusnews.com/en/pullup...p-112-per-cent-from-the-2022-23-record-with-a

https://dovetailgames.com/news/focu...s-the-acclaimed-uk-based-dovetail-games-group

https://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-...t-sa-eur0.60/financial-statements-and-reports

 

Those are huge numbers, it would be interesting to know how much money and time as a % into newly released DLC. All figures I would imagine are closely guarded.

 

I dont think it appealed to many people anyway i hope people dont lose there jobs if it is down to financial difficulties

 

Never had it’s own section for discussion under “hobbies”, must have been a sign

 

I'm not sure this has anything to do with UE5. I suspect it has more to do with the fact that I didn't see a single person who was interested in this.

Doesn't DTG already use procedural generation to varying extents with TSW?

 

Of course they are fine, why wouldn't they be? They churn out a healthy amount of content which probably sells well (enough).

Posts in this thread mentioning the opposite are pure speculation and conjecture anyway.

 

Having seen a few DTG games released with fanfare only to vanish soon after, I can only see it as an improvement that this one was let go beforehand, tough as that decision undoubtedly was. I do doubt that this was a case of DTG biting off more than they can chew, as some would have it, so much as simply not ignoring signs that maybe were ignored with those past games.

 

There could be a whole host of reasons why they’ve decided to cut their losses with metro rivals and not all of them linked to the financial health of the company.

it simply could be that focus groups have been uninterested in purchasing and that there isn’t a market big enough to recoup the cost of development or that they’ve ran into technical limitations in the game engine which would push the development costs higher than budgeted as just 2 examples.

I always suspected that MR was mearly a training tool for a UE5 train sim and if that’s the case perhaps they’ve either ditched any plans for this or decided to accelerate development of this and pulled MR to free up manpower for this acceleration.

No one outside DTG knows for a fact and everything is nearly conjecture. However if anyone has been laid off due to this I feel extremely sorry for them and hope that they find something else quickly.

 

And you've never seen the reactions of people here to anything not accurate to real life, in scenery as well as train appearance? I don't see procedural scenery going over well at all.

 

While I wasn't going to buy this game. It is a shame to see, people will have worked hard on this project just to see it cancelled...sorry, "Postponed." That can be soul destroying.

I hope people don't lose jobs as a result of this.

 

I had a search on Linkedin and there's many devs at DTG now seeking employment elsewhere after being made redundant, I feel sorry for them and hope they can find other opportunities.

One look at Glassdoor reviews for DTG reveals a toxic work culture high up in the food chain and unrealistic deadlines. Something is clearly rotten within the company and it needs to change.

 

Maybe completely wrong, but what if DTG dropped MR because WoS unexpectedly has made the income needed to finance the training for UE5? We know DTG used MR to get the teams to learn UE5 for a future train sim, so looking at the whole concept of MR (which was ok but didnt have much potential imo) i assume they never tried to make big money with it but rather just finance the learning phase for UE5, which they dropped since the Sodor game potentialy made up for it.
Another possibility: Maybe they made such huge steps in the learning process that a new title just for UE5 learning isnt needed anymore?

Edit: Whatever reason DTG had, its sad to hear that people lost their jobs because of it.

 

Yup that much is obvious, one of the reasons i won't get mad at the devs, because at the end of the day it's there bosses that call the shots, while they take all the stick, a poor man blames the tools, not the hand that wields them.

 

Huge win for tsw