10 Chambers co-founder Hjalmar Vikström leaves after 10 years

Hjalmar Vikström, chief development officer of 10 Chambers, has left the studio he co-founded almost 11 years ago.

Founded in Stockholm in 2015, 10 Chambers is principally known as the creator of GTFO, a cooperative first-person shooter that debuted in Early Access in 2019, and released in full in 2021.

Vikström did not elaborate on why he had stepped away from the studio, but did say that “next up is going indie” and making “way” smaller games so he can “focus on health and family.”

Writing on LinkedIn, Vikström said that “these past years have taken their toll,” but he was “proud of how we managed to punch above our weight and deliver GTFO.”

“If you know me you’ve heard this before: Making games is hard,” Vikström wrote. “And these past years have taken their toll. But thinking back I’m proud of how we managed to punch above our weight and deliver GTFO. Both the Early Access release from a team of nine, and also the releases culminating with GTFO 1.0 from the bigger 10 Chambers team. I’m grateful for the friends I’ve made and everything I’ve learned.

“Next up for me is going indie – making way smaller games, focusing on health and family, and just enjoying game development,” he added. “More on that later.”

Vikström closed on saying that he was now looking forward to “reconnecting and collaborating with friends in the years to come.”

Tencent invested in the Swedish game developer in 2020, taking a “major stake.”