"PEAK: Viral Climbing Game Born from Korea's Month-Long Game Jam"

PEAK is a 4-week game jam project that has outperformed Landfall’s previous hits in sales. Discover how two indie studios joined forces in Korea to create a viral co-op sensation.

PEAK’s Breakout Success

Born from "Jealousy" and Friendly Rivalry

PEAK emerged from a spontaneous collaboration between Aggro Crab, the studio behind Another Crab’s Treasure, and Landfall, creators of Content Warning. The duo formed the temporary team "Landcrab" and developed the game during an intense 4-week stay in a Seoul Airbnb. The project was fueled by a mix of admiration and playful jealousy.

In a June 25 interview with PC Gamer, Aggro Crab founder Nick Kaman revealed that learning Content Warning was made in just one month left the team stunned. "We were about to launch Another Crab’s Treasure—a 3+ year passion project that pushed us to the edge. It was successful, but Content Warning blew up much bigger, and it was built so fast," Kaman said.

The two studios already shared a close bond, so when Kaman proposed a joint game jam, Landfall instantly agreed. In February, three developers from Aggro Crab and four from Landfall traveled to Korea. "We brought our laptops to an Airbnb in Hongdae and basically locked ourselves in for a month," Kaman recalled.

Interestingly, the idea for PEAK originated a year earlier. According to Aggro Crab’s Creative Director Caelan Rashby-Pollock, the concept sparked during a hot tub session in Sweden. "It was vague at first—kind of like an open-world survival thing. But we quickly got hooked on the idea of a group of lost scouts on a deadly island, mixing survival with dark, slapstick humor," he explained.

Once the teams reunited in Korea, PEAK consumed their every waking moment. "Every second was either spent coding or eating while talking about PEAK," Kaman said. Though it was one of their most demanding projects, he described it as the most enjoyable experience they’ve had.

Despite its viral success, the developers have confirmed in the game’s FAQs that there are no plans to expand PEAK. While they continue to release bug fixes and minor updates, both studios are now focused on their upcoming standalone projects.

1 Million Copies Sold in Just 6 Days

PEAK achieved instant commercial success, surpassing Another Crab’s Treasure in sales within days. On June 22, Aggro Crab announced on X (formerly Twitter): "why did this stupid jam game sell more copies than another crabs treasure im gonna crash out."

The game quickly climbed to become the 2nd top-selling title on Steam and has earned a "Very Positive" rating from players. Its blend of chaotic co-op gameplay, tight mechanics, and absurd humor has made it one of the most talked-about indie releases of the year.

According to SteamDB, PEAK reached an all-time peak of 102,799 concurrent players. Players praise its inventive level design, hilarious physics-based challenges, and seamless teamwork mechanics.

At Game8, we scored PEAK a 76/100, highlighting its clever co-op structure, engaging biomes, and accessible price point. While the game has faced occasional bugs and server instability, its charm and replayability far outweigh its flaws. For a deeper dive into our full review, check out our detailed article below!