 | |
| Industry | Video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2019 |
| Headquarters | , US |
Key people | Tim Bender (CEO) Snow Rui (CFO) |
Number of employees | 12 (2023) |
| Website | hoodedhorse |
Hooded Horse is a video game publisher founded in 2019. Based in Dallas, Texas, the company is most known for publishing tactical and strategic games such as Against the Storm , Old World , and Manor Lords .
The company was founded in 2019. The company specializes in creating tactical and strategic games with elements commonly seen in role-playing games. As a publisher, Hooded Horse will allocate a budget of at least $100,000 for localization and marketing for each project, and developers can retain 65% of all revenues generated following a game's release. [1] [2] Early games published by Hooded Horse include Terra Invicta , a grand strategy game from Pavonis Interactive, the studio behind the Long War mods for modern XCOM games, and Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic from 3Division. It then signed with Mohawk Games for the development of Old World , after the original publisher Starbreeze Studios abandoned the project as it encountered financial difficulties. [3]
By 2023, the publisher had a total of 12 employees, and had published 20 games, most of which were released through Steam's early access program. [1] Against the Storm was released in late 2023 to critical acclaim, and had sold over 1 million copies by March 2024. [4] The company is set to publish Xenonauts 2 (released through early access in 2023), [5] Manor Lords (released through early access in April 2024), [6] and Nova Roma from Lion Shield, the developer behind Kingdoms and Castles , among others. [7]
XCOM, is a science fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth. The series began with the strategy video game X-COM: UFO Defense created by Julian Gollop's Mythos Games and MicroProse in 1994. The original lineup by MicroProse included six published and at least two canceled games, as well as two novels. The X-COM series, in particular its original entry, achieved a sizable cult following and has influenced many other video games; including the creation of a number of clones, spiritual successors, and unofficial remakes.
Steam is a video game digital distribution service and storefront developed by Valve Corporation. It was launched as a software client in September 2003 to provide game updates automatically for Valve's games, and expanded to distributing third-party titles in late 2005. Steam offers various features, like game server matchmaking with Valve Anti-Cheat measures, social networking, and game streaming services. Steam client's functions include game update automation, cloud storage for game progress, and community features such as direct messaging, in-game overlay functions and a virtual collectable marketplace.
Tactical role-playing games, also known as strategy role-playing games and in Japan as simulation RPGs, are a video game genre that combines core elements of role-playing video games with those of tactical strategy video games. The formats of tactical RPGs are much like traditional tabletop role-playing games and strategy games in appearance, pacing, and rule structure. Likewise, early tabletop role-playing games are descended from skirmish wargames such as Chainmail, which were primarily concerned with combat.
Tripwire Interactive LLC is an American video game developer and publisher based in Roswell, Georgia.
Michael S. Wilson is an American business executive, video game producer, and film-maker. Beginning his career at DWANGO as Vice President of Development before being hired to lead marketing and publishing at id Software in 1995, Wilson has subsequently co-founded multiple independent video game publishers, including Gathering of Developers, Gamecock Media Group, Devolver Digital, Good Shepherd Entertainment, and DeepWell DTx.
Kongregate is an American web gaming portal and video game publisher. Its website features over 124,000 online games and 30+ mobile games available to the public. The company also publishes games for PC, mobile, and home consoles. It was purchased by GameStop Corporation in 2010 before being acquired by Modern Times Group MT AB in 2017.
An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. Because of their independence and freedom to develop, indie games often focus on innovation, experimental gameplay, and taking risks not usually afforded in AAA games. Indie games tend to be sold through digital distribution channels rather than at retail due to a lack of publisher support. The term is analogous to independent music or independent film in those respective mediums.
Xenonauts is a turn-based science fiction video game developed and published as the maiden title of London-based independent game studio Goldhawk Interactive. Inspired by the 1994 game X-COM: UFO Defense, gameplay involves the player taking the role of the commander of a clandestine organization known as the Xenonauts, and attempting to defeat an alien invasion of Earth in the alternative history year 1979. The game was released on June 17, 2014 for Microsoft Windows. Ports to Mac OS X and Linux were initially based on the Wine compatibility layer, until native ports became available in September 2015. A sequel, Xenonauts 2, was released through early access in 2023.
Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilson, five executives who had been involved with Gathering of Developers and Gamecock Media Group, which published games on developer-friendly terms, but due to the high cost associated with releasing retail games saw themselves acquired and dissolved by larger companies. To avoid this, Devolver Digital instead turned to digital distribution channels.
New World Interactive LLC (NWI) is an American video game developer founded by Andrew Spearin and Jeremy Blum in 2010. The company developed the multiplayer tactical shooter games Insurgency (2014), Day of Infamy (2017), and Insurgency: Sandstorm (2018). In 2020, New World Interactive was acquired by Saber Interactive.
Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alpha, alpha, and/or beta, while the developer is able to use those funds to continue further development on the game. Those that pay to participate typically help to debug the game, provide feedback and suggestions, may have access to special materials in the game. The early-access approach is a common way to obtain funding for indie games, and may also be used along with other funding mechanisms, including crowdfunding. Many crowdfunding projects promise to offer access to alpha and/or beta versions of the game as development progresses; however, unlike some of these projects which solicit funds but do not yet have a playable game, all early access games offer an immediately playable version of the unfinished game to players.
itch.io is a website for users to host, sell and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 700,000 products as of April 2023.
Xenonauts 2 is an upcoming turn-based tactics video game developed by Goldhawk Interactive and published by Hooded Horse. A sequel to Xenonauts (2014), the game was released on July 18, 2023 through early access.
Nacon is a French video game company based in Lesquin. It designs and distributes gaming accessories, and publishes and distributes video games for various platforms. In 2020, Bigben Group was consolidated to form Nacon.
Private Division is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was founded by Take-Two Interactive and announced in December 2017. Private Division funds and publishes indie games developed by small to mid-sized studios. This includes taking over Kerbal Space Program publishing and releasing titles from Obsidian Entertainment, Panache Digital Games, and V1 Interactive.
Crytivo is a game publishing company based in San Diego, California, founded by Alex Koshelkov in 2013.
World War 3 is a free-to-play first-person shooter developed by Wishlist Games and published by The 4 Winds Entertainment for Microsoft Windows. World War 3 is solely multiplayer and does not feature a single-player campaign. It features real-world locations of Warsaw, Berlin, Moscow, Smolensk, Polyarny, the Gobi Desert, Tokyo, the Korean DMZ, and Istanbul; the locations have been extensively revamped since the early access release on October 19, 2018. The full version followed on December 10, 2022. On December 14, 2023, Wishlist Games acquired the rights to develop World War 3 from The Farm 51, becoming the next lead development studio for the game.
Against the Storm is a 2023 city-building video game developed by Eremite Games and published by Hooded Horse. Unlike traditional city-building games, it incorporates elements of roguelike games and has a short playtime with goals players must achieve.
Manor Lords is a medieval city-builder and real-time tactics video game developed by Greg Styczeń from Slavic Magic and published by Hooded Horse. The most anticipated game on Steam upon release, with over three million wishlists, it released into early access on 26 April 2024.
