Deliver Us Mars studio KeokeN has laid off its whole team

The founders of Deliver Us Mars and Deliver Us the Moon studio KeokeN have announced that the rest of the company has been laid off.

In a statement published on X, CEO Koen Deetman and managing director Paul Deetman said the Netherlands-based studio was forced into the decision after exhausting all possible options for completing planned projects or taking on other work.

KeokeN announced in February that it had laid off four of its core team of 19, after its founders took pay cuts and went without salaries for “the past few months”.

And in March, the studio revealed it had unsuccessfully pitched five games to 40 publishers in more than 200 meetings over the previous two years.

“Heartbroken, we’ve had to lay off our team at KeokeN because of nothing substantial materializing directly after our visit to GDC,” reads today’s statement. “We’ve unfortunately exhausted all our possible options for publishing, work for hire, and co-development.

“It is our utmost priority to make sure our lovely team finds a new home somewhere else, so if you have any positions available in Programming, Tech Art, Porting, Level Design, Audio, Animation, Production, Office Management, contact us, so that we can introduce you to the very best people who have been at the heart of KeokeN over the past 10 years.

Heartbroken, we’ve had to lay off our team at KeokeN because of nothing substantial materializing directly after our visit to GDC. We’ve unfortunately exhausted all our possible options for publishing, work for hire, and co-development.

It is our utmost priority to make sure our… pic.twitter.com/3QHzJzgCfl

— KeokeN Interactive (@KeokeN) April 30, 2024

“Paul and I are heavily beat, but far from beaten. It’s our personal mission to rebuild KeokeN brick by brick like we’ve done before, in the name of our people and to continue the legacy of our games.

“Personally, we are preparing a Kickstarter soon for our much-anticipated Deliver Us Home. This is one small step for KeokeN, one giant leap for Delivering Us Home. A game we will build for you and with you.”

It was announced last week that Deliver Us the Moon will be released for Nintendo Switch “soon”.