Aragami studio Lince Works is closing: 'The last couple of years have been particularly difficult'

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Lince Works, the Barcelona-based developer of the Aragami games, has announced that it is halting development of its current projects and closing its doors for good.

Aragami and Aragami 2 are third-person stealth games that put players in the jika-tabi of a supernatural ninja protecting his people from invading armies. They weren't huge hits but they were well-received on Steam, where they hold positive user rankings. In September 2022, a year after the release of Aragami 2, Lince Works announced that it was "time to move on and shift our focus towards brand-new adventures."

But now that's not going to happen.

"The last couple of years have been particularly difficult as we shifted towards the development of new IPs and a new course for the company," Lince Works said today. "We were ambitious about what we wanted to achieve as a studio, but sadly, although we made good progress, the economic context was not favorable and we ran out of time.

"It breaks our hearts to know that all the work we have done for the past year will ultimately not come to a completion."

Lince Works closure announcement — (Image credit: Lince Works)

The closure announcement comes as a surprise, as Lince Works was still hiring less than two months ago. There's no indication about what the studio had been working on in its post-Aragami phase, as the currently posted job listings, for senior AI and gameplay programmer positions, say only that they will help "bring our next projects to life by implementing new gameplay features to meet project design goals."

While the announcement was made today, Lince Works won't formally shut down until sometime in April. The studio assured Aragami fans that both games will still be available for purchase across all platforms, and that online co-op play will remain accessible. It also said that it will do its best to help employees find new jobs in the industry.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.