Legendary indie studio Vlambeer, best known for games like Ridiculous Fishing and Nuclear Throne, is making a return, but co-founder Rami Ismail won't be a part of the company anymore.
Writing on his official site, Ismail says that although the studio will always be "part of who I am", the projects he's currently working on "no longer fit within the aesthetics and brand that Vlambeer has so carefully curated over the years".
Ismail says that co-founder Jan Willem has bought out his share of the company, and that Willem's current work aligns more closely with what Vlambeer is about.
Speaking on his own Substack page, Willem says his acquisition of Vlambeer means that the long-awaited arcade shooter Ultrabugs "will see its long-anticipated release" after he's done working on his current project, which he doesn't name.
He also says that an update for Ridiculous Fishing EX is on the way soon, and that it will contain "a lot of cool new content and some...unconventional fish".
Lastly, Willem reaffirms his commitment to keeping existing Vlambeer games alive and preserving them so they can be played in the future, as well as his commitment to making "indie games with cool small teams like I always have".
Ismail and Willem started Vlambeer in 2010, with both of them dropping out of game design school to focus on the business.
The developer's first game was Super Crate Box, released that same year, and the studio followed that title up with indie hits like Ridiculous Fishing, Luftrausers, and Nuclear Throne.
The studio announced its closure (which Ismail says was never quite a full shutdown, but more of a "strange limbo") on its tenth anniversary in 2020, but it looks like the name will continue after all.
We'll have to wait and see what Vlambeer has in store for the future. Stay tuned for more on this and all other things industry-related.
