Deliver Us the Moon and Deliver Us Mars developer KeokeN Interactive has announced it's laying off its entire team after having "exhausted all [its] possible options".
In a message posted on X (formerly Twitter) earlier today, KeokeN heads Paul and Koen Deetman say they're "heartbroken", but they're laying off the KeokeN team "because of nothing substantial materializing" after a visit to GDC.
Presumably, the developer was there to try to drum up publishing support for its new project, but that doesn't seem to have materialized; KeokeN says it's exhausted its options for "publishing, work for hire, and co-development".
Despite this setback, KeokeN says it isn't discouraged. The two Deetmans say they're "heavily beat, but far from beaten".
They say they intend to rebuild KeokeN "brick by brick" and to continue the studio's legacy, and in order to do so, they're turning to their fans and preparing a new Kickstarter.
The upcoming third installment in the Deliver series, Deliver Us Home, will launch on Kickstarter "soon", according to KeokeN, representing "one small step for KeokeN, one giant leap for Delivering Us Home".
It remains to be seen whether or not KeokeN can drum up enough interest to save the project, but for now, it doesn't look like it'll be getting a third-party publisher, at any rate.
KeokeN Interactive's first game was 2018's Deliver Us the Moon, first released as Deliver Us the Moon: Fortuna in September that year.
The sci-fi adventure proved a cult hit, eventually making its way to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S and inspiring a Fortnite map made by KeokeN itself.
A followup, Deliver Us Mars, was released in February last year, having been delayed from its original release date to allow KeokeN to polish it up.
Both games are currently available on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Stay tuned for more news about whatever KeokeN decides to do next.
