Keen Games

Keen Games is an independent German video game developer and self-publisher based in Frankfurt am Main. Formed in 2005 by former members of Neon Studios, the company has developed console, PC and mobile titles while evolving from work-for-hire and co-development work into a studio focused on self-published games and proprietary technology.

Its early catalogue includes adaptations and development work for franchises such as Anno, Secret Files, G-Force and Sacred 3. In 2012, the studio entered mobile development through the Keen Flare joint venture with Flaregames, contributing to Royal Revolt and Royal Revolt 2. Keen Games subsequently shifted away from mobile development to concentrate on PC and console projects, voxel technology and its own publishing operations.

Technology and game development

Keen Games develops action RPG, survival sandbox and open-world games using a proprietary voxel engine. Its capabilities include:

• Voxel-based open-world engineering and procedural generation
• Cooperative multiplayer, survival-crafting systems and action RPG mechanics
• Proprietary engine and tools development
• Full-cycle game development across design, art, engineering, audio and quality assurance
• Multiplatform development, porting and cross-platform architecture
• Publishing, community management and live operations

The studio partnered with 505 Games on Portal Knights, a cooperative sandbox action RPG built around procedurally generated voxel worlds. The project helped establish the technical direction that later informed the company’s original work.

Self-publishing era

In 2021, Keen Games secured a Series B investment from Hiro Capital and Tencent, alongside a German federal games grant, to support its transition into self-publishing. That strategy culminated in Enshrouded, a cooperative survival-crafting action RPG released in Early Access in January 2024.

Enshrouded is powered by the studio’s proprietary voxel engine and combines exploration, building, crafting and cooperative play in an open-world setting. The game drew more than two million players in its first month of Early Access and later surpassed three million players in 2024. Keen Games and Enshrouded have also received recognition at the German Developer Awards and German Computer Game Awards, including Studio of the Year and awards for Best German Game, Best Game Design, and innovation and technology.