Stray Souls Developer Closes Doors Due to Negative Reception and Online Harassment

Jukai Studio, the developer of Stray Souls, is closing its doors. The studio attributes the decision to the disappointing sales and reception of its first game, as well as cyberbullying. In a recent statement, the studio acknowledged that they had not communicated the limited manpower – only two core individuals and contracted personnel – working on Stray Souls despite the high expectations from fans.

Jukai Studio announced that despite facing continuous cyber attacks throughout the project, they are committed to pursuing the matter with legal action. No further details were provided as the issue is now in the hands of lawyers.

In addition to Jukai Studio, another studio that closed in December was Firewall Ultra developer First Contact Entertainment. The closure was attributed to the overall lack of support for virtual reality in the video game industry. Stray Souls, an action-horror game released on October 25, 2023, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, received poor reviews, earning a score of 31 on Metacritic.

Editor's P/S

As a fan of Stray Souls, I am deeply saddened by the news of Jukai Studio's closure. The game had a lot of potential, and it's a shame that the developers were unable to realize their vision due to negative feedback and online harassment. It's important to remember that game developers are people too, and they put a lot of time and effort into their work. It's not fair for them to be subjected to abuse simply because their game doesn't meet everyone's expectations.

I hope that Jukai Studio will be able to find success in the future, and I look forward to seeing what they create next. In the meantime, I encourage everyone to be respectful of game developers and to remember that they are people too.