Deliver Us Mars Developer Lays Off Entire Team

30.04.2024 - 22:46 / gamerant.com / Viraaj Bhatnagar

Deliver Us Mars developer KeokeN Interactive has announced that it will be laying off its entire staff. This comes amid a turbulent period in the games industry that's filled with unfortunate job cuts and studio closures, and even though Deliver Us Mars was considered decent among fans, there were several other issues that led to KeokeN letting its workforce go.

KeokeN Interactive carved a niche for itself with its narrative-heavy, atmospheric sci-fi games. Deliver Us the Moon was the Dutch studio's debut title, which received positive reviews for its unique exploration of the Moon and interesting sci-fi thriller story. The sequel,Deliver Us Mars, built on the storytelling strengths further on the planet of Mars, albeit with some technical issues at launch. Sadly, though, the future of the series, as well as its developer, looks to be very uncertain.

Right before the Game Developers Conference in March 2024, KeokeN Interactive posted a video on Twitter showcasing several of their in-development projects, openly appealing to fans and industry professionals alike to «amplify our message to find a publisher, an investor, or someone that can help us continue this dream.» The founders even extended an open invitation for interested parties to connect with them at GDC, but unfortunately, these efforts proved unsuccessful. According to the studio's announcement, «nothing substantial» materialized from the conference, leaving it with no choice but to lay off the entire development team.

While the news of KeokeN's current state is undoubtedly bleak, the studio will do everything it can to support the laid-off developers in finding new opportunities within the industry, who could send their resumes to Baldur's Gate developer Larian Studios. However, KeokeN Interactive CEO Koen Deetman and managing director Paul Deetman haven't entirely abandoned hope: «Paul and I are heavily beat, but far from beaten. It’s our personal mission to rebuild KeokeN brick by brick like we’ve done before, in the name of our people and to continue the legacy of our games.» The co-founders also confirmed an upcoming Kickstarter campaign for the third entry in the Deliver Us series, Deliver Us Home. Specific details regarding the campaign remain unavailable at this time.

KeokeN Interactive's exodus adds to the growing list of game studios that have faced layoffs in 2024, and serves as a harsh reminder of the precarious nature of game development, especially for smaller studios. Moreover, it also shows how risk-averse some publishers are becoming, as KeokeN pitched their five in-development games to «40 publishers in over 200 pitch meetings,» yet none of them bore fruit for the studio. KeokeN now relies heavily on community support,