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Human Element studio shuts down as game goes on hiatus

With founder Robert Bowling unable to find a publisher for Human Element, developer Robotoki has shut down.

Ozzie Mejia

January 20, 2015 11:45 AM

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Former Call of Duty creative strategist Robert Bowling originally left Infinity Ward in 2012 and set off for a new endeavor that saw him create a whole new studio called Robotoki. Today, Robotoki is no more. Bowling announced that the studio would be shutting down and that all operations have ceased.

"We were actively negotiating a publishing deal for the premium version of Human Element but unfortunately I am unable to continue to self-fund the studio until that deal finalizes.," Bowling said in a farewell blog post. "I want to thank every single person who supported us along this journey. It was an experience of a lifetime, and we learned a lifetime of experience."

The survival adventure Human Element was originally slated to be an Ouya exclusive. However, struggles with the platform meant the studio needed to branch out, thus PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions were later announced, with the PC version expected later this year. Reports from Joystiq state that the game is not canceled, but rather that it is on hiatus.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?