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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.

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 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. In January 2021 Klei announced that it had agreed to let Tencent acquire a majority stake, and said it would remain in full control of its products. Klei now employs roughly 100 people, the vast majority in 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.

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 vertical traversal, 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.

Klei has said it is not winding down Don't Starve Together and aims to support both games concurrently, with the older game keeping a slower update cadence. In the same April 16, 2026 post the studio said Elsewhere had by then been in development for several years, and that it was not ready to say more about the project for now. Skin carryover from Don't Starve Together is unresolved: Klei chose early in development not to let skin compatibility constrain how Elsewhere's characters were designed, but has said it would like to find a way for players to use the skins they already own. New players can start with the getting started guide.

Unconfirmed Details

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.

• Preproduction start and milestone schedule are not public. Klei has said only that the project had been in development for several years as of April 2026.

• 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.