Sponsored By

The indie studio behind 2017's AER is closing its doors after 7 years, but sharing demos for its incomplete projects on itch.io after the closure.

Alissa McAloon, Publisher

January 16, 2019

1 Min Read

Forgotten Key, the indie studio behind 2017’s AER: Memories of Old, is closing its doors after 7 years and releasing demos for its unreleased and unannounced projects on itch.io as a result.

Studio founder and CEO Robin Hjelte spoke candidly about the coming closure in a Medium post, saying that ultimately the fault lies in being unable to find ways to sustain a growing studio despite everyone’s best efforts to do so. 

“The answers are probably many and nuanced, where we will surely fall to whatever the opposite of survival bias is called when trying [to] find explanations,” said Hjelte. “One answer is probably the market's development, another personal misjudging of priorities, and a third the inherent problem between making business out of creativity and art."

Along with a small reflection on the journey of the studio, Hjelte shared contact and portfolio information for the artists, programmers, designers, and producers that will be looking for work once the studio officially closes its doors. That information, alongside links to the team’s final projects, can be found in the full Medium writeup

About the Author(s)

Alissa McAloon

Publisher, GameDeveloper.com

As the Publisher of Game Developer, Alissa McAloon brings a decade of experience in the video game industry and media. When not working in the world of B2B game journalism, Alissa enjoys spending her time in the worlds of immersive sandbox games or dabbling in the occasional TTRPG.

Daily news, dev blogs, and stories from Game Developer straight to your inbox

You May Also Like