Human Element on 'hiatus' as developer Robotoki shuts down

Human Element has been put on hiatus and its developer closed, in a sad twist for the game that returned to the public eye just a month ago. Though it was first announced in 2012, a CGI trailer which debuted at The Game Awards in December 2014 showed off what looked like a new direction for the post-apocalyptic shooter.

Robotoki founder Robert Bowling (who was previously Infinity Ward's creative strategist) wrote that a publishing deal didn't work out in time to keep the studio afloat. Nexon was set to publish the game's PC version before Robotoki dropped its plans for a free-to-play business model, bringing an end to the arrangement.

The developer, which previously released Drop Squad 4 on iOS and Android, will cease all operations this week. Though Bowling made it clear that Robotoki is out of time, it's less clear what will happen to the current incarnation of Human Element - a form the public's yet to see outside of that CGI trailer.

Bowling specifically referred to development as going on 'hiatus' via his Twitter account, which implies some intention, or at least hope, of returning to the project post-Robotoki. We'll just have to see what (if anything) the future holds for Human Element. Besides a zombie apocalypse, anyway.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.