Nothing seemed more like a closed book to me than Vlambeer, the developer of Luftrausers, Nuclear Throne, and Ridiculous Fishing. Vlambeer, a studio consisting of Jan Nyman and Rami Ismail, closed its doors in September 2020 after 10 years in business, announcing "the end of Vlambeer" in a short and straightforward Twitter post. It was time for two members to move on to something new.

Or maybe not. Because in another Twitter post yesterday, Nyman made an "announcement of the acquisition of a video game company" and revealed that he owns "100% of Vlambeer". In a tweet around the same time, Ismail announced that he had "sold 50% of my old game studio Vlambeer to my co-founder (Nijman)."

Vlambeer appears to have risen from the dead, although without Ismail's involvement.

According to a blog post on Ismail's website, "Vlambeer was never completely 'shut down'; rather, it has been in limbo since the founders announced its closure in 2020. However, it has been in limbo since the founders announced its closure in 2020. Despite "dwindling hours," Ismail and Nieman "tried to continue customer support and maintenance" for the studio's game catalog. Ismail says, "Neither of us felt like we were in a strange limbo, unable to devote the time and effort necessary to maintain Vlambeer, but both of us were dependent on each other to take any action."

The two decided that it would be best to keep the company in the hands of one person, and ultimately decided to leave that hand in the hands of Nyman, whose "current work is also closely aligned with the studio's aesthetic."

In other words, Vranbia is back. If you ask me, this is fantastic news. The studio had put out some solid games in its day, and its sudden passing has always felt very bittersweet. Nyman already seems to have a plan in place: in a further tweet, he announced that the studio will finally release its long-awaited (and once final) game "Ultrabugs," that it will update "Ridiculous Fishing EX," and that "Vlambeer 's classic games to be preserved and maintained as necessary to keep them playable into the future". Sounds like a pretty good welcome party to me.