Peak accidentally speedran Aggro Crab's entire studio identity

Aggro Crab, the studio behind the soulslike Another Crab's Treasure, apparently had a bit of an existential crisis - the good kind. According to PC Gamer, studio head Nick Kaman revealed that before Peak blew up, the team genuinely believed they were a character action studio. Plot twist: they were not.

Peak, the chaotic co-op mountain climbing game, started as what Kaman described as "kind of a side hustle" - basically the B-team project while the grown-ups were busy doing serious gamer stuff. Nobody expected it to go nuclear.

But then it did. Peak became a runaway hit, and suddenly Aggro Crab had to sit down and have a serious talk with themselves in the mirror. The data was right there on the screen like a giant loot drop they couldn't ignore - players were absolutely eating up the co-op chaos.

An accidental respec

This is basically the studio equivalent of grinding through an entire RPG as a warrior, then realizing at the final boss that you actually had a mage build the whole time. All those skill points, wasted. Or were they? Kaman's comments to PC Gamer suggest the team is now leaning into co-op as a core part of what Aggro Crab actually is, rather than treating it like a side quest.

It's a genuinely interesting pivot - and honestly a refreshing one. Most studios cling to their original identity like it's a rare crafted item they're afraid to vendor. Aggro Crab is out here doing a full class reset because the players basically voted with their wallets and said "more of THIS, please."

What does this mean for future games?

The studio hasn't dropped a new title announcement or anything so dramatic - don't get your hopes up for a co-op soulslike crab extravaganza just yet (although please, someone greenlight that). But the comments signal a clear shift in how Aggro Crab sees its own design philosophy going forward.

If Peak was a side hustle that accidentally became the main questline, it'll be fascinating to see what happens when the studio actually commits fully to co-op from the jump. Consider us subscribed to that newsletter.