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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 roguelike deckbuilding genres over two decades. Elsewhere is the studio's first all-new entry in the Don't Starve world since Don't Starve Together in 2016.

Studio Profile

Notable Games

Studio History

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 the puzzle game Eets in 2006 led into Shank (2010) and Mark of the Ninja (2012), which brought Klei wider recognition for translating action and stealth genres into crisp 2D side-on perspectives.

The April 23, 2013 release of Don't Starve set the studio's long-term direction. Its hand-drawn art, gothic humor, and uncompromising survival loop became Klei's calling card, and the April 21, 2016 follow-up Don't Starve Together extended that formula into a persistent online co-op experience the studio still actively supports. Klei expanded the catalog with Invisible, Inc. (May 12, 2015), Oxygen Not Included (2019), Hot Lava (2019), and Griftlands (2021).

In 2017 the studio acquired Slick Entertainment, a small Vancouver developer best known for the N+ series. On January 25, 2021, Klei announced that it had become a subsidiary of Tencent. The studio publicly stated that it would retain full creative and operational control over its games and projects, with no changes to leadership or studio culture. Klei now employs roughly 100 people, the vast majority based out of its Vancouver studio.

Don't Starve: Elsewhere

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. Klei is both developing and publishing the game.

Elsewhere is the most ambitious technical pivot in the franchise's history. Where Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together 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 an entirely new 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 direct experience with platforming, jumping, and verticality in 3D space. Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together established Klei's core competency in survival systems: hunger, sanity, seasons, base-building, crafting, and procedural generation.

Don't Starve Together will continue to receive updates, and Klei has stated that the two games have equal reasons to exist for a long while. Cosmetics from Don't Starve Together will not transfer to Elsewhere because the new project uses a different art style and is set in a new world distinct from the Constant. New players can start with the getting started guide to learn the core loop without prior series experience.

Unconfirmed Details

The following details about the Elsewhere project specifically have not been published by the studio. They are listed here so readers know what is still missing, rather than to fill in guesses.

• Team size assigned to Elsewhere within Klei. The studio has roughly 100 employees, but the proportion on Elsewhere versus Don't Starve Together updates has not been disclosed.

• Total development time. Klei has not stated when Elsewhere entered preproduction or full production.

• Project codename history. Pre-reveal teasers used the word "exspectamus" and a portal puzzle, but no official codename has been confirmed.

• Game engine. Klei has not publicly stated which engine Elsewhere uses.

• Release window. The April 9, 2026 announcement included no release date or estimated quarter.

• Console plans. Only PC via Steam has been confirmed; no console platforms have been announced.