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Stray Souls developer Jukai Studio shuts down

Jukai Studio closed its doors hours after its publishing partner Versus Evil and two months after the launch of its debut game, Stray Souls.

Justin Carter, Contributing Editor

January 2, 2024

1 Min Read
Enemies from the 2023 horror game Strange Souls.
Image via Jukai Studio.

At a Glance

  • Jukai attributed its shut down to the poor sales of its debut game Stray Souls and frequent cyberbullying attacks.

Days before Christmas, Polish developer Jukai Studio announced its closure. In its December 22 post, the developer said both of its two core members "decided each of us will go their separate way."

The closure of Versus Evil that same day, which it worked with, helped lead to Jukai's shut down. It also pointed to cyberbullying and the poor sales of its 2023 horror game, Stray Souls.

"We were completely unable to sustain the company because of bad sales," it explained, "leading to the decision having to be made this year."

The past and future of Stray Souls

Jukai went on to reveal that Stray Souls was made with only two core staff and contract employees. But the individual harassing it and its development partners hung over the project during production.

All Jukai had to say on that front was that it was in the hands of its lawyers, and that it would "not abandon [the matter] despite the studio's closure."

Stray Souls was Jukai's debut game, at time of writing, is still purchasable. In its closing statement, it hoped that 2024 "will be a year of positive changes in the world of game development."

About the Author(s)

Justin Carter

Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com

A Kansas City, MO native, Justin Carter has written for numerous sites including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writing can be found at io9 over on Gizmodo. Don't ask him about how much gum he's had, because the answer will be more than he's willing to admit.

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