Arkedo Studio, developer of the gonzo action game Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, has laid off its staff and is ceasing active development, but isn't closing its doors officially. Co-founder and creative director Aurelien Regard announced the news with some careful parsing of terms.

"Arkedo hasn't closed down and is not bankrupt, going into administration or whatever big word, as it is managed properly," Regard said on a fan translation of his blog (via Polygon). "But no one's employed anymore. No more games are produced either."

He chalks up the quasi-closure to a lack of funds, biting off more than it could chew with development of Hell Yeah!, and co-founder Camille Guermonprez's desire to work on other projects. He said he expects Guermonprez to start a "mini-studio" within a few years.

The studio didn't have any other projects in the pipeline, but it did develop two small indie titles and Regard says he hopes to release them soon. When the studio heads saw the writing on the wall, they decided to "disband the team with good conditions for everyone, and before it was too late, rather than replace permanent jobs with interns within a bad atmosphere."

Regard says that he's developing a game on his own, and the other team members have gone on to their own projects or studios elsewhere. "In this kind of case, we say 'See ya' rather than 'Farewell,' right?"