Klei Entertainment

We’ve been told that the recently-announced Shank 2 will feature full co-op support, but now we get to see it in action. Players will have to guard …
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During a press event in Las Vegas, Electronic Arts announced the name of their newest IP: Shank 2, sequel to 2010’s bloody beat-em-up side-scroller. Our hero is thrust back …
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The staff behind XBLA Fans has been working extra hard the past few weeks as we prepared for BRAWLER WEEK! We created this special event to explore everything we love about this bloody beat ’em up genre. The week is chock full of reviews, interviews, features, contests, and prizes. We’re bookending Brawler Week between Rush’N Attack and Dishwasher: Vampire Smile… two games that we encourage you to take for a test run.

Every day we’ll update this post with more awesome content and a new challenge for our readers to complete. Each challenge will be accompanied by a prize we will randomly give out to one or more lucky person that picks up the gauntlet and completes the challenge. At the end of the week, we have a very special prize that just three lucky readers will win. (Hint.) Please see our contest rules for more info and requirements.

This post will remain stickied on top to keep you up-to-date on the latest Brawler Week info. Don’t forget to keep checking for your next opportunity to win game codes and other great prizes!

Today’s features:

• Giveaway Challenge #6: No Hype – win X-Men Arcade

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Shank is not for the faint of heart. If you don’t like over-the-top violence or challenging skill-based combat, you’re probably too much of a wuss for Shank…
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Thanks to a number of fans over at xbox360achievements (and our friends over at Klei Entertainment), we have a complete guide to help you obtain all eleven Shank-tastic outfits.
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Klei Entertainment’s eagerly anticipated 2D brawler has finally arrived—on Playstation Network, anyway…
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Klei Entertainment, the independent developer behind the upcoming XBLA game Shank, have unveiled six new tracks from the game’s official soundtrack and three costume unlocks out of …
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Klei Entertainment has released a new trailer showcasing the depth of the combos in the combat for their upcoming game Shank. Where else can you …
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While Shank may still be referred to in some circles as an indie darling, the game packs a whole lot of production value. What may have started as a homemade knife, has been proven to be one gracefully elegant weapon. The title’s story is penned by Marianne Krawczyk, author of God of War. The game itself is presented in 9 layers of HD parallax taking art direction cues from Jeff Agala, creative director on the project and creator of Cartoon Network Original Series Atomic Betty. The game is being published by EA Partners, who is responsible for EA’s dealings with People Can Fly (Bulletstorm), Valve (Orange Box), Harmonix (Rock Band Franchise), and more. To call all of that indie, just doesn’t cut it.

That isn’t to say Shank has lost its indie roots. Klei CEO Jamie Cheng and Jeff Agala set out to make an adrenaline filled action fest that would also push the boundaries on how digitally distributed games are made. The game mixes and blends genres, as it feels part spaghetti western, part grind house film. Jamie Cheng described the plot to us as a “pulp fiction revenge story through and through.” The main character feels like a total badass combination of Stallone from Rambo and Brock Sampson from Venture Brothers. All in all, it’s a thrilling concoction of just epic ingredients you can only expect to see with the complete freedom of an indie studio.
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The following article is based around an email interview conducted by our team with Jamie Cheng, CEO of Klei Entertainment. For the uninitiated, Klei Entertainment is currently developing Shank for Xbox Live Arcade for summer release.

Redefining digitally distributed games

About five years ago, a young video game developer with some big ideas on how small game companies should work walked away from a position with an established developer in the hopes of completely redefining how digitally distributed games were made. Jamie Cheng sold his shares of THQ and went out on a limb to accomplish his dreams. This is where the story of Klei Entertainment begins.

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