Klei Entertainment
Profile of Klei Entertainment, the Vancouver studio that develops and publishes Don't Starve: Elsewhere, including studio history, notable games, and the team's role on the new project.
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Klei Entertainment is the Vancouver-based independent studio behind Don't Starve, Don't Starve Together, and Don't Starve: Elsewhere. Klei develops and self-publishes its games and has shipped projects across stealth, survival, simulation, and deckbuilding over two decades. Elsewhere is the studio's first all-new entry in the Don't Starve world since 2016.
Field | Detail |
|---|---|
Founded | July 2005 |
Founders | Jamie Cheng, Jeffrey Agala |
Headquarters | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
Parent Company | Tencent (since January 25, 2021) |
Notable Acquisition | Slick Entertainment (2017) |
Employees | Approximately 100 |
Role for Elsewhere | Developer and publisher |
Title | Year |
|---|---|
Eets | 2006 |
Shank | 2010 |
Mark of the Ninja | 2012 |
Don't Starve | 2013 |
Invisible, Inc. | 2015 |
Don't Starve Together | 2016 |
Oxygen Not Included | 2019 |
Hot Lava | 2019 |
Griftlands | 2021 |
Don't Starve: Elsewhere | Announced 2026 |
Klei was founded in July 2005 in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Jamie Cheng with co-founder and creative director Jeffrey Agala. Early downloadable titles like Eets (2006) led into Shank (2010) and Mark of the Ninja (2012), which earned Klei recognition for translating action and stealth into 2D side-on perspectives.
The April 23, 2013 release of Don't Starve set Klei's long-term direction. Its hand-drawn art, gothic humor, and uncompromising survival loop became the studio's calling card. The April 21, 2016 follow-up Don't Starve Together turned that formula into a persistent online co-op experience that is still actively supported. Klei expanded the catalog with Invisible, Inc. (2015), Oxygen Not Included (2019), Hot Lava (2019), and Griftlands (2021).
In 2017 Klei acquired Slick Entertainment, a Vancouver developer known for the N+ series. On January 25, 2021, Klei became a subsidiary of Tencent and publicly stated that it would retain full creative and operational control, with no changes to leadership or culture. Klei now employs roughly 100 people, the vast majority in its Vancouver studio.
Don't Starve: Elsewhere was unveiled on April 9, 2026 and is Klei's first all-new entry in the Don't Starve series since 2016.
Elsewhere is the most ambitious technical pivot in the franchise's history. Where the previous games used a fixed-perspective 2D paper-cutout style, Elsewhere moves the series into a fully 3D world with free-look movement, a long-requested jump button, and a multi-tiered, elevation-based world with mountains, cliffs, rivers, seas, and caves. Klei has also introduced the Fog, a creeping, sanity-draining hazard that sits alongside falling and starvation as one of three core failure states.
Two of these pillars line up with games already in Klei's catalog. Hot Lava (2019) was the studio's first first-person 3D project and gave the team experience with platforming and jumping in 3D space. Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together established Klei's core competency in survival systems: hunger, sanity, seasons, base-building, and procedural generation.
Don't Starve Together will continue to receive updates, and Klei has stated the two games have equal reasons to exist. Cosmetics from Don't Starve Together will not transfer because the new project uses a different art style and is set in a world distinct from the Constant. New players can start with the getting started guide.
The following details about the Elsewhere project have not been published by the studio.
Team size on Elsewhere versus Don't Starve Together updates has not been disclosed.
Total development time, preproduction start, and milestone schedule are not public.
Internal codename history. Pre-reveal teasers used "exspectamus," but no codename has been confirmed.
Game engine. Klei has not stated which engine Elsewhere uses.
Release window. The April 9, 2026 announcement included no date or quarter.
Console plans. Only PC via Steam has been confirmed at announcement.