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.