Studio Robotoki has ceased operations, Human Element on hold

Robert Bowling's development studio Robotoki has shut it's doors and its apocalyptic survival game is now "on hiatus."

Joystiq confirmed the news via a statement from Bowling.

"This week we have ceased operations at Robotoki and the development of Human Element is on hiatus," Bowling stated. "We were actively negotiating a new publishing deal for the premium version of Human Element but unfortunately I was unable to continue to self-fund development until a deal was finalized."

Set 35 years after a zombie apocalypse, the first-person game was said to combine action, strategy and resource management through a myriad of survival scenarios.

It was being developed using CryEngine technology and was slated for a November 2015 release on PC . At one times it was  a free-to-play title to be published by Nexon.

Robotoki and Nexon dissolved the partnership and the game was switched to a premium product which resulted in the studio being forced to lay off some staff members.

Bowling said at the time that as development progressed, the studio decided the a free-to-play experience would cut some of “the most fun" elements of the game.

Nexon America said the parting was a  “mutual decision”  due to Human Element no longer aligning with the publisher's free-to-play portfolio.

A new publisher for Human Element was supposed to be announced back in December.

Some game footage is posted in the video below.