Mudang Two Hearts was supposed to be the stealth action game fans desperately needed. Revealed at Xbox Games Showcase 2025 with a stunning trailer that mixed Metal Gear Solid tension with K-pop glamour, the game promised a politically charged thriller set in a unified Korea where a North Korean soldier protects a pop star caught in a terrorist conspiracy. Now, just seven months after that exciting debut, the game appears to be dead. EVR Studio’s website has vanished, the team shrank from over 100 employees to 22 through brutal layoffs, and development updates stopped completely in August 2025.
What Happened to EVR Studio
The warning signs started appearing just one month after the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2025. Multiple EVR Studio employees were fired at bizarre times, with sources citing insufficient funds as the reason. Korean business tracking sites showed the company’s headcount gradually declining from over 100 people to a skeleton crew of 22 by late 2025. That’s an 80 percent reduction in staff, the kind of bloodletting that usually signals a company in freefall.
By early January 2026, the studio’s official website at evrstudio.com completely disappeared. It’s not down temporarily or showing maintenance messages. The domain is gone, which typically means the company either stopped paying hosting fees or deliberately shut everything down. The YouTube channel, which used to post developer diaries monthly, went silent after August with no updates, explanations, or acknowledgment of the growing concerns.
According to Need4Games, who spoke with sources connected to the studio, everyone they contacted was negative about the project’s future. One investor stated they expect the game to release by the end of March 2026, and if it doesn’t happen, investors will be extremely upset and hold meetings to address the situation. That deadline is less than three months away, and given the complete radio silence from EVR Studio, the chances of hitting that target look impossibly slim.
The Game That Could Have Been
Mudang Two Hearts wasn’t just another stealth game. Set in the near future where North and South Korea are on the verge of reunification, the story begins when terrorists attack the South Korean National Assembly on the day a historic reunification bill was set to pass. Eight months later, South Korea lives under martial law, and Ji Jeongtae, a North Korean special forces soldier sent south under the peace accord, is assigned security detail for K-pop group ORDO’s first state-sanctioned concert since the attacks.
When the terrorist group Beolmuban storms the concert stage, Jeongtae discovers a dangerous secret involving Gavi, ORDO’s brightest star. The game switches between both characters, offering contrasting perspectives and distinct gameplay experiences that converge on a single unsettling truth. Jeongtae plays like a traditional tactical stealth operative with military training and lethal efficiency. Gavi represents the celebrity under constant surveillance, navigating public perception and media manipulation while uncovering conspiracy threads.
What made Mudang particularly intriguing was its exploration of themes rarely tackled in AAA games. The story examines manufactured manipulation of public sentiment, the psychological weight of celebrity influence, and how emotional engineering can weaponize populations against themselves. The terrorists aren’t just blowing things up. The attacks somehow drive civilians into states of uncontrollable rage, creating what appears to be a rage virus outbreak that turns infected victims into frenzied attackers.
The Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Comparison
PC Gamer described the game as looking like Splinter Cell mashed up with Lollipop Chainsaw, an elevator pitch that immediately grabbed attention. Game Informer called it a political action thriller with impressive performance capture and violent action. The 30-minute gameplay demo showcased adaptive enemy AI that alters patrol routes and response patterns based on player strategy, making missions feel unpredictable and reactive rather than scripted.
Combat featured multi-phase boss encounters with enemy waves, telegraphed combo patterns, and mechanics like crowd-control grenades and dual character coordination. The Unreal Engine 5 visuals looked stunning, with cinematic presentation that matched what you’d expect from Sony or Microsoft first-party studios. This wasn’t some janky indie project. EVR Studio was building something genuinely ambitious that could have filled the stealth action void left by dormant franchises like Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid.
Why Korean Gaming Startups Struggle
EVR Studio’s apparent collapse isn’t just about one game or one studio. It reflects broader challenges facing Korean game developers trying to compete globally. South Korea dominates mobile gaming and esports infrastructure, but console and PC single-player experiences remain difficult markets for Korean studios to crack. The industry there is heavily weighted toward MMOs, mobile gacha games, and competitive multiplayer titles that generate consistent revenue through microtransactions.
Building a narrative-driven single-player game requires massive upfront investment with no guaranteed return. You can’t pivot to a live service model if the story campaign flops. You can’t add loot boxes or season passes to a stealth action thriller without alienating your audience. The financial risk is enormous, especially for a new studio without proven hits to fund development.
EVR Studio clearly burned through their funding faster than expected. Going from 100+ employees to 22 in a matter of months suggests catastrophic financial mismanagement, investor withdrawal, or unrealistic budget projections. Game development is notoriously expensive, and ambitious projects like Mudang require years of funding to complete. When investors get nervous and pull out, studios collapse almost overnight.
The Xbox Connection
What makes this situation particularly awkward is Xbox’s involvement. Mudang Two Hearts was announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2025, one of Microsoft’s biggest marketing events of the year. The trailer premiered alongside major first-party titles and high-profile third-party exclusives. That kind of showcase placement suggests Microsoft saw potential and possibly provided marketing support or funding assistance.
But the game isn’t an Xbox exclusive. It’s also coming to PlayStation 5 and PC, which means Microsoft didn’t secure platform exclusivity. That’s actually common for indie partnerships where Xbox provides marketing reach in exchange for day-one Game Pass inclusion. The question now is whether Microsoft knew about EVR Studio’s financial troubles when they featured the game so prominently.
If Mudang truly gets cancelled, it will join a growing list of games announced at major showcases that never materialize. Publishers increasingly use these events to generate hype for projects still years from completion, gambling that excitement will translate to sales. When studios collapse mid-development, those trailers become nothing more than expensive marketing exercises for vaporware.
What Happens Next
The March 2026 deadline looms large. According to investor sources, if EVR Studio doesn’t deliver the game by then, there will be serious consequences. But delivering a complete AAA-quality stealth action game in three months when your studio has been gutted and your website is gone seems impossible. The most likely scenarios are either cancellation, a desperate acquisition attempt by a larger publisher, or a drastically reduced scope release that ships an unfinished product.
Cancellation is the most probable outcome. Without a functioning studio, active development, or public communication, the project is effectively dead already. The question is whether anyone will officially announce it or if Mudang will just fade away quietly, joining the graveyard of promising games that never launched.
An acquisition could save the project if a publisher like Krafton, Netmarble, or even a Western company saw enough potential to absorb the remaining team and fund completion. But acquisitions take time, and with only three months until the investor deadline, negotiations would need to happen immediately. Given the radio silence, no white knight appears to be riding to the rescue.
A compromised release would be the worst scenario. Imagine EVR Studio desperately pushing out whatever build exists to satisfy investors, launching an unfinished game that damages the team’s reputation and squanders years of work. This happens more often than people realize. Studios facing bankruptcy sometimes release broken products just to generate some revenue before shutting down completely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Mudang Two Hearts?
Mudang Two Hearts is a tactical stealth action game set in a unified Korea where a North Korean soldier protects a K-pop star caught in a terrorist conspiracy. The game features dual protagonists with distinct gameplay styles and was announced at Xbox Games Showcase 2025 for release in 2026 on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Is Mudang Two Hearts cancelled?
While not officially confirmed, all signs point to cancellation. Developer EVR Studio’s website has disappeared, the company faced massive layoffs reducing staff from 100+ to 22 people, and development updates stopped in August 2025. Investors have reportedly demanded delivery by March 2026 or face consequences.
What happened to EVR Studio?
EVR Studio underwent massive layoffs starting one month after the Xbox Games Showcase in July 2025, citing insufficient funds. Korean business trackers show the headcount dropped from over 100 employees to just 22 by late 2025. The studio’s website went offline completely in early January 2026.
When was Mudang Two Hearts supposed to release?
The game was announced for release in 2026 without a specific date. According to investor sources, there’s an internal deadline of March 2026, but given the studio’s current situation, meeting that target appears impossible.
Is Mudang Two Hearts based on anything?
Yes, the game is based on a Korean webtoon titled Moodang. EVR Studio adapted the comic into a video game format with expanded gameplay and narrative elements.
What platforms was Mudang coming to?
Mudang Two Hearts was announced for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam. Despite being revealed at Xbox Games Showcase, it was not a platform exclusive.
Why did EVR Studio fail?
While specific reasons haven’t been confirmed, the studio appears to have run out of funding. Single-player narrative games require massive upfront investment without guaranteed returns, and Korean game studios face particular challenges competing in the global console market dominated by Western and Japanese developers.
Will someone else finish Mudang Two Hearts?
It’s possible but unlikely. Another publisher could theoretically acquire the project and remaining team to finish development, but with only months until the investor deadline and complete radio silence from EVR Studio, no acquisition talks appear to be happening.
The Bigger Picture
Mudang Two Hearts represents a broader problem in the gaming industry right now. Between 2023 and 2025, thousands of game developers lost their jobs as studios closed, projects got cancelled, and publishers consolidated to survive economic uncertainty. Even successful companies with profitable games laid off employees to appease shareholders demanding higher profit margins.
But EVR Studio’s situation feels particularly tragic because the game looked genuinely promising. This wasn’t a cynical cash grab or derivative sequel. It was an original IP with a unique cultural perspective, blending Korean political tensions with modern celebrity culture in ways Western developers wouldn’t think to explore. The dual protagonist structure offered mechanical variety. The adaptive AI and multi-phase boss fights suggested depth beyond typical stealth games.
When studios like this collapse, we lose more than just one game. We lose diverse voices, experimental ideas, and cultural perspectives that enrich gaming as a medium. The industry becomes more homogenized when only massive publishers with proven franchises can afford to take risks. Indie developers and regional studios trying to compete at AAA scale face impossible odds.
Maybe Mudang Two Hearts will surprise everyone and launch in March 2026 as a complete, polished experience. Maybe a publisher will swoop in with funding to save the project. Maybe the website going down was just a technical glitch and EVR Studio is actually fine. But based on every piece of evidence available, the Korean Splinter Cell is dead, killed by the same financial pressures destroying studios worldwide. Another promising game joins the graveyard of what could have been, and the stealth action genre loses a title it desperately needed.