A small number of layoffs took place at Keoken Interactive in February. According to CEO Koen Deetman, four of its 19 core staff members were let go.
Deetman said the reductions came after he and managing director Paul Deetman had taken “significant” pay cuts. These cuts were such that the duo effectively spent months without salary pay.
Keoken is known for the Deliver Us franchise, consisting of last year’s Deliver Us Mars and 2018’s Deliver Us the Moon.
In his statement, Deetman said the pair “[tried] protecting the team as long as humanly possible. […] We’re fighters and we fight every day to make sure this doesn’t have to happen again.”These are some of the smallest layoffs yet in what’s already been a layoff-heavy year. This week alone, there’ve been cuts from PlayStation, Wildlife, and EA, totaling nearly 2,000 reductions overall.
Deliver Us Mars and Keoken’s next steps
With Deliver Us Mars only a few months old, it’s unknown what these cuts mean for Keoken’s future or any other projects it may have in development.
Last year, Game Developer spoke with Deetman about Mars’ contrast between the Red Planet and Earth, which you can read here.