This Week in Business is our weekly recap column, a collection of stats and quotes from recent stories presented with a dash of opinion (sometimes more than a dash) and intended to shed light on various trends. Check every Friday for a new entry.
Jukai Studio announces closure following Versus Evil shut down
24.12.2023 - 14:58 / thesixthaxis.com
Following on from last night’s news that indie publisher Versus Evil had closed down with immediate effect, leading to job losses for staff, additional impact is being felt elsewhere. Jukai Studios, the development studio behind Stray Souls which was published by Versus Evil, has announced that it too will be closing its doors. Jukai Studios consisted of two developers who have decided to go their separate ways. The full statement can be read below.
Jukai Studio’s statement says:
“After much contemplation and in light of today’s news that our publisher has announced closure, we have decided not to delay in informing you that we are shutting down Jukai Studio. Some of you may have noticed that our website has not been functioning for some time, and we have not been as active as before. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main ones is that we have fallen victim to cyberbullying, received a poor reception for our debut project Stray Souls, and were completely unable to sustain the company because of bad sales, leading to the decision having to be made this year.
We are aware that you had high expectations for Stray Souls, but we never informed you that only two core individuals, along with contracted personnel, were working on the game. We did everything in our power to bring the project to completion in the best possible form, but throughout the entire duration we, our publisher staff, other publisher dev teams and our close ones were constantly attacked by a cyber persecutor, and some of you, as our community, were also tormented with unwanted messages and emails. We understand that you do not wish to continue actively supporting us for the obvious reasons mentioned above. The matter is now in the hands of our lawyers, so we cannot speak about it any further, but know that we will not abandon it despite the studio’s closure.
Once again, we wanted to thank all of you who supported us and did not give up despite the adversities that befell you and us. We sincerely thank everyone for believing in us. No one from Jukai Studio has been laid off because we never functioned as a large corporation, and together we decided that each one of us will go their separate way. Jukai Studio consisted of a truly amazing and talented group of people who believed in the success of the project until the end. Despite this sad news, Stray Souls remains in your hands. In conclusion, we want to add that this year has been very difficult not only for us, and we hope that 2024 will be a year of positive changes in the world of game development, Thank you to everyone who supported us.
There are also games that were due to be published by Versus Evil including Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients, Lil’ Guardsman,
The website gametalkz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
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eurogamer.net
03.01.2024 / 17:24
Stray Souls developer shuts down following publisher's closure, cyberbullying and poor sales
Stray Souls developer Jukai Studio is shutting down. The decision to close was in light of its publisher Versus Evil also shutting down, but the studio additionally cited cyberbullying, Stray Souls' poor reception and bad sales as contributing factors.
gamingbolt.com
02.01.2024 / 17:51
Stray Souls Developer Shuts Down
Slipping under the radar before the holidays is the news that Jukai Studio, developer of the maligned horror game Stray Souls, has shut down. It stated on Twitter that this was due to the closure of Versus Evil (its publisher), poor critical reception and sales for the game, and cyberbullying.
gamesindustry.biz
02.01.2024 / 12:01
Stray Souls developer Jukai Studio announces closure
Jukai Studio announced its closure over the holidays, despite launching its horror survival title Stray Souls last October.
eurogamer.net
02.01.2024 / 11:57
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rockpapershotgun.com
26.12.2023 / 22:27
Indie publisher Versus Evil closed and all staff laid off
Versus Evil, the publisher behind The Banner Saga and Pillars Of Eternity 2, among others, has been closed down and its entire staff laid off. Versus Evil were bought by tinyBuild in November 2021.
thesixthaxis.com
25.12.2023 / 10:22
Versus Evil shutdown: Drop Bear Bytes still planning to release Broken Roads
The sudden closure of Versus Evil on Friday has had an immediate impact on the industry. The first impact was the loss of jobs for many, who would not have expected this just a few days before Christmas. The next impact was the closure of Jukai Studio, developer of Stray Souls. Versus Evil had published that game earlier this year. Jukai Studio is not the only developer that is having to rethink plans, as other games were set to be published by Versus Evil.
thesixthaxis.com
24.12.2023 / 14:58
Versus Evil shutdown: Drop Bear Bytes still planning to release Broken Roads
The sudden closure of Versus Evil on Friday has had an immediate impact on the industry. The first impact was the loss of jobs for many, who would not have expected this just a few days before Christmas. The next impact was the closure of Jukai Studio, developer of Stray Souls. Versus Evil had published that game earlier this year. Jukai Studio is not the only developer that is having to rethink plans, as other games were set to be published by Versus Evil.
thesixthaxis.com
23.12.2023 / 12:40
Versus Evil has shuttered, all staff laid off
Video game publisher Versus Evil has shut down with immediate effect, and all staff have been laid off. Some reports from now former employees suggest that the decision to close was not in the hands of Versus Evil to decide.
thesixthaxis.com
23.12.2023 / 09:59
Jukai Studio announces closure following Versus Evil shut down
Following on from last night’s news that indie publisher Versus Evil had closed down with immediate effect, leading to job losses for staff, additional impact is being felt elsewhere. Jukai Studios, the development studio behind Stray Souls which was published by Versus Evil, has announced that it too will be closing its doors. Jukai Studios consisted of two developers who have decided to go their separate ways. The full statement can be read below.
gamingbolt.com
23.12.2023 / 03:27
Indie Publisher Versus Evil is Being Shut Down
Publisher tinyBuild has announced that its subsidiary, Versus Evil, is being shut down. Taking to social media platform X for the announcement, Versus Evil will be closing its doors after publishing titles for 10 years.
ign.com
22.12.2023 / 23:32
Indie Publisher Versus Evil Is Shutting Down, Entire Staff Laid Off
Versus Evil, the indie publisher perhaps best known for games like Stoic's The Banner Saga trilogy and Obsidian Entertainment's Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, is shutting down, with former employees saying parent company tinyBuild has laid off the entire team.