TinyBuild

Last updated

tinyBuild Inc.
Company type Public
LSE:  TBLD
ISIN USU8884H1033
Industry Video games
Founded2011;13 years ago (2011) in the Netherlands
Founders
  • Alex Nichiporchik
  • Tom Brien
Headquarters,
US
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Alex Nichiporchik (CEO)
OwnerAlex Nichiporchik (57.9%) [1]
Atari SA (7.9%)
NetEase (3.2%)
Number of employees
150 (2020)
Website tinybuild.com

tinyBuild Inc. is an American publisher of indie games based in Bellevue, Washington. [2] The company was established by Alex Nichiporchik and Tom Brien in 2011 to expand Brien's game No Time to Explain into a commercial release. Building from the success of the game's Steam release in 2013, tinyBuild partnered with DoubleDutch Games for the development and release of SpeedRunners , which landed tinyBuild further publishing deals. Since March 2020, the company has been founding or acquiring new studios to expand. It became a public company on the Alternative Investment Market in March 2021.

Contents

History

tinyBuild was founded in 2011 by Alex Nichiporchik (Latvian : Aleksandrs Ņičiporčiks) and Tom Brien. [3] [4] Nichiporchik came from Latvia and had been a professional Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos player in the early 2000s, which made him enough money to drop out of high school and pursue a career in video game journalism. [5] While an employee of Spil Games in the Netherlands in 2010, he became interested in Flash games. He came across Super Meat Boy , which led to him to want to get into the business. Nichiporchik discovered No Time to Explain , a Flash game by Tom Brien, which he thought could be as successful as Super Meat Boy. Nichiporchik and Brien established tinyBuild in 2011 as a developer to expand No Time to Explain into a commercial release. The company headquarters were based in the Netherlands with Nichiporchik until both relocated to Seattle later on. [3]

tinyBuild launched a crowdfunding campaign for the game via Kickstarter and raised US$26,000 from a $7,000 target. [3] tinyBuild had agreed with the Russian publisher Buka Entertainment that the latter would publish retail versions of No Time to Explain in Russia, get the game released on Steam, and grant tinyBuild $24,500 in royalties in advance. However, Buka Entertainment failed to communicate with tinyBuild until stating that it was forced to cancel the project, withholding the royalties. [6] [7] As No Time to Explain could not be launched via Steam, tinyBuild released it independently. The game recouped its development cost but did not turn a significant profit. tinyBuild went into hiatus for nearly a year thereafter until Steam introduced the Greenlight process for game approval. No Time to Explain became one of the first games to be greenlit for Steam in 2013 and had a successful release on the platform. Nichiporchik stated this experience burnt out tinyBuild, which was no longer interested in pursuing development but did not want to waste the newfound success. The company invested in, co-developed, and published the game SpeedRunners , which led to more developers pitching their games to tinyBuild, incrementally turning the company into a publisher. [3] To expand its publishing operations, it hired the video game journalist Mike Rose in December 2014. [8]

tinyBuild obtained $3.75 million in seed funding from Makers Fund in April 2018, followed by $15 million in series A funding from an undisclosed investor in February 2019. [9] The company established its first internal studio, HakJak Studios, with Guts and Glory developer Jed "HakJak" Steen in Boise, Idaho, in March 2020. [10] Nichiporchik believed that indie game publishers like tinyBuild would have to move away from "transactional relationships"—wherein the developer and publisher would work on one game and then move on—and instead build long-term relationships with the developers. [11] At this time, tinyBuild had 150 employees. [12] tinyBuild acquired the development team behind Hello Neighbor from Dynamic Pixels in July 2020 for an undisclosed sum to establish the studio Eerie Guest Studios in Hilversum. The company invested more than US$15 million into the Hello Neighbor franchise. [13] tinyBuild invested US$3 million into Hologryph, the team behind the Hello Neighbor multi-player spin-off, Secret Neighbor in November 2020. [14] In February 2021, tinyBuild acquired three studios it had previously worked with: We're Five Games, Hungry Couch, and Moon Moose. [15]

tinyBuild announced in February 2021 that it was to pursue an initial public offering on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol "TBLD". At the time, Nichiporchik owned 61.1% of the company, while the Chinese company NetEase owned 14.3%. [4] The company's shares began trading on March 9, 2021, with an initial market capitalization of £340 million. [16]

tinyBuild acquired the studio Animal in August 2021 for $10.2 million; Animal had been working on publishing their upcoming game Rawmen through tinyBuild. [17]

tinyBuild acquired Versus Evil and Red Cerberus in November 2021. [18]

The company acquired the intellectual property rights to the bulk of Bossa Studios' games including Surgeon Simulator and I Am Bread , for US$3 million in August 2022. [19]

Subsidiaries

Studios

NameLocationFoundedAcquired
Animal Pasadena, California, United States2015August 2021
Eerie Guest Studios Hilversum, NetherlandsJuly 2020
Hologryph Lviv, Ukraine2016November 2020
Hungry Couch Games Moscow, Russia2019February 2021
DogHelm Los Angeles, California, United States2015June 2021
Bad Pixel Voronezh, Russia2008September 2021
Konfa Games St. Petersburg, Russia2017August 2022
Red Cerberus São Paulo, BrazilJuly 2017November 2021

Former

NameLocationFoundedAcquiredClosed
HakJak Studios Boise, Idaho, United StatesMarch 2020December 2023 [20]
Versus Evil Baltimore, Maryland, United States2013November 2021December 2023 [21]
We're Five Games Minneapolis, Minnesota, United StatesApril 2012February 2021- 2023 [ citation needed ]
Moon Moose St. Petersburg, Russia2019February 2021February 2024 [22]
DeMagic Games Ukraine, Europe2019April 2022March 2024 [23]

Games developed

YearTitlePlatform(s)
2011 No Time to Explain Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
2015 No Time to Explain Remastered Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
2023 Hello Engineer Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch

Games published

YearTitleDeveloper(s)Platform(s)
2013Not the Robots2DArray Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
2014 Fearless Fantasy Enter Skies Entertainment Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows
Spoiler AlertMegafuzzAndroid, iOS, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
Lovely Planet QuicktequilaLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Wii U
2015Divide by SheepBread TeamAndroid, iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows
Party Hard Pinokl Games Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Snail Bob 2Hunter HamsterAndroid, iOS, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
2016 Punch Club Lazy Bear Games Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Dungelot: Shattered LandsRed WinterAndroid, iOS, Microsoft Windows
SpeedRunners DoubleDutch Games iOS, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
One Troll ArmyFlyAnvilmacOS, Microsoft Windows
BoidMokus GamesMicrosoft Windows
Lovely Planet ArcadeQuicktequilaLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
Road to BallhallaTorched HillMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The Final Station Do My Best GamesLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor Sundae MonthmacOS, Microsoft Windows
Clustertruck Landfall GamesLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Party Hard Go Pinokl Games Android, iOS, Fire OS
2017Stage PresenceSea Green GamesMicrosoft Windows
Mr. Shifty Team ShiftyLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Community IncT4 InteractivemacOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Phantom TriggerBread TeamMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Party Hard Tycoon (early access)
  • Pinokl Games
  • Kverta
Microsoft Windows
Hello Neighbor Dynamic PixelsAndroid, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One
2018Garage: Bad TripZombie DynamicsmacOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Outpost Zero (early access)Symmetric GamesMicrosoft Windows
Guts and Glory HakJak StudiosLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Graveyard Keeper Lazy Bear GamesAndroid, iOS, Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Party Hard 2
  • Pinokl Games
  • Kverta
  • Hologryph
Microsoft Windows
Rapture Rejects (early access)
  • Galvanic Games
  • Explosm Games
Microsoft Windows
Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek Dynamic PixelsiOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One
2019Pandemic ExpressTall Boys TeamMicrosoft Windows
Swag and Sorcery
  • Lazy Bear Games
  • Uroboros Games
iOS, Microsoft Windows
Pathologic 2 Ice-Pick Lodge Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Lovely Planet 2: April Skies QuicktequilaLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
Streets of RogueMatt DabrowskiLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Totally Reliable Delivery Service We're Five GamesAndroid, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
WakingJason OdaMicrosoft Windows
Secret Neighbor
  • Hologryph
  • Dynamic Pixels
Microsoft Windows, Stadia, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
2020 Not For Broadcast NotGamesMicrosoft Windows
Hello Puppets!Otherworld InteractiveMicrosoft Windows (VR Exclusive)
Hellpoint Cradle GamesLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Kill It with FireCasey Donnellan Games LLCMicrosoft Windows
Punch Club 2: Fast ForwardLazy Bear GamesMicrosoft Windows
Startup PanicAlgorocksAndroid, iOS, Microsoft Windows
WakingJason OdaMicrosoft Windows, Xbox One
2021 Black Skylands (early access)Hungry CouchMicrosoft Windows
Cartel Tycoon (early access)Moon Moose
Happy's Humble Burger FarmScythe Dev TeamMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Mayhem in Single ValleyFluxscopic Ltd.Microsoft Windows
Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator (early access)niceplay gamesMicrosoft Windows
UndungeonLaughing MachinesMicrosoft Windows, Xbox One
2022 Not for Broadcast NotGamesMicrosoft Windows
Expedition ZeroEnigmatic Machines
Hello Neighbor 2 Eerie Guest StudiosMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
Tinykin SplashteamMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Asterigos: Curse of the Stars Acme GamestudioMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Despot's GameKonfa GamesLinux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
2023RHYTHM SPROUTSURTMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Farworld PioneersIgloosoftMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Black SkylandsHungry CouchMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales [24] DO MY BESTmacOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Punch Club 2: Fast ForwardLazy Bear GamesMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse SurvivalMandragoraMicrosoft Windows
Hello Neighbor: Search & Rescue Steel Wool Studios Microsoft Windows, Meta Quest, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Hello Neighbor: Nicky's Diaries DeMagic GamesAndroid, iOS
2024 Kingmakers Redemption Road GamesMicrosoft Windows
SANDHologryph, TowerhausMicrosoft Windows
Level Zero: ExtractionDOGHOWL GamesMicrosoft Windows, Xbox, PlayStation
RawmenAnimalMicrosoft Windows
Train Valley World Flazm Microsoft Windows, macOS
2025 Of Ash and Steel Fire & FrostMicrosoft Windows
TBATrash SailorsfluckyMachineMicrosoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Pigeon SimulatorHakJak StudiosMicrosoft Windows

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