 Logo since August 2019 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2009 |
| Founders |
|
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | Amir Rao (studio operations) |
| Products | |
Number of employees | 25 [1] (2024) |
| Website | supergiantgames.com |
Supergiant Games, LLC is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in San Francisco. It was founded in 2009 by Amir Rao and Gavin Simon, and is known for the games Bastion , Transistor , Pyre , and Hades .
Supergiant Games was formed by Amir Rao and Gavin Simon in 2009. Both had been working at the Los Angeles studio of Electronic Arts, involved with the Command & Conquer series. [2] In 2009 they agreed to quit their job, move into the same house, and begin to work on a new game together. Artist Jen Zee became the studio's third member, and, later, its art director. [3] Musician Darren Korb was hired for audio and music work. [4] [5] They employed a number of freelance programmers and developers at various times during the development of their first game. [6] [7]
Their first game, Bastion , received high critical praise, including being listed among several "Game of the Year" lists from game journalists. [8] It was first shown in mid-development at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo as one of many highlighted indie games. [9] This attracted several publishers who wanted to help distribute the game; Supergiant Games chose Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, leading to the game's distribution on Xbox Live Arcade and also as a premiere title during the 2011 "Summer of Arcade" promotion. [10]
In March 2013, Supergiant Games announced their next title, Transistor , released on May 20, 2014. A promotion video was released on March 19. [11] The game features a female protagonist, Red, in a cyberpunk-like city, who has acquired a powerful weapon that she is nearly killed for possessing. [12] The game features a similar isometric viewpoint to Bastion [13] and was also met with critical acclaim. [14]
In April 2016, Supergiant Games announced their third game, Pyre , released on July 25, 2017, for Microsoft Windows, Linux and PlayStation 4. It was described as a party-based role-playing game. [15] In a break from their previous games, Pyre does not use an isometric viewpoint; the player's party travels across a 2D overworld, and combat takes place in a separate arena. The combat system is also very different, being described as "fantasy basketball". [16] Pyre was again regarded fondly by critics and was named Game Informer 's best indie RPG for that year. [17]
Supergiant's next game, Hades , was revealed at The Game Awards 2018 and released on September 17, 2020, following an early access release from December 2018. Hades is an action roguelite game based on Greek mythology, where the player character Zagreus uses a combination of weapons, magic, and abilities to defeat enemies in procedurally-generated dungeons and escape from his father, Hades. [18] Hades was met with critical acclaim, selling over 1 million copies and reaching "universal acclaim" status on Metacritic, [19] [20] with several awards won. It was nominated for nine awards at The Game Awards 2020, including for Game of the Year; Hades would end up winning two awards for Best Independent Game and Best Action. Hades wound up winning the best game of the year awards at the 17th British Academy Games Awards, the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and the 21st Game Developers Choice Awards. [21]
At The Game Awards 2022, Supergiant announced Hades II . Like the original Hades, it will be a roguelite game based on Greek mythology and it will be developed in early access. [22] [23]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Genre(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Bastion | Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS | Action role-playing |
| 2014 | Transistor | Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Switch, iOS, Apple TV | Action role-playing, turn-based strategy |
| 2017 | Pyre | Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 | Action role-playing, sports |
| 2020 | Hades | Windows, macOS, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, iOS | Action role-playing, roguelite |
| 2024 | Hades II | Windows | Action role-playing, roguelite |
Yoko Shimomura is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games such as the Kingdom Hearts series. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several games there, including Final Fight, Street Fighter II, and The King of Dragons.
1996 saw many sequels and prequels in video games, such as Super Mario 64, Duke Nukem 3D, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Super Mario RPG, King's Field III, Virtua Fighter 3, along with new titles such as Blazing Heroes, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Crash Bandicoot, Pokémon Red/Green/Blue, Resident Evil, Dead or Alive, Quake and Tomb Raider.
1982 was the peak year for the golden age of arcade video games as well as the second generation of video game consoles. Many games were released that would spawn franchises, or at least sequels, including Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mr. Do!, Zaxxon, Q*bert, Time Pilot and Pitfall! The year's highest-grossing video game was Namco's arcade game Pac-Man, for the third year in a row, while the year's best-selling home system was the Atari 2600. Additional video game consoles added to a crowded market, notably the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. Troubles at Atari late in the year triggered the video game crash of 1983.
Gregory A. Kasavin is an American video game writer and designer at Supergiant Games. Before entering game development, Kasavin was the site director and executive editor at the gaming news website GameSpot for over ten years.
Bastion is an action role-playing video game developed by independent developer Supergiant Games and originally published in 2011 by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. In the game, the player controls "the Kid" as he moves through floating, fantasy-themed environments and fights enemies of various types. It features a dynamic voiceover from a narrator, and is presented as a two-dimensional game with an isometric camera and a hand-painted, colorful art style. Bastion's story follows the Kid as he collects special shards of rock to power a structure, the Bastion, in the wake of an apocalyptic Calamity.
Transistor is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Supergiant Games. The game was released in May 2014 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4, for OS X and Linux in October 2014, and iOS devices in June 2015. Transistor sold over one million copies across all platforms by December 2015.
Darren Korb is an American songwriter, composer, and voice actor. Korb is best known for writing the music featured in Bastion, Transistor, Pyre and Hades, all of which were developed by indie developer Supergiant Games. Korb also voice-acted in the latter two games, including providing the voice for Zagreus, the protagonist of Hades.
Pyre is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Supergiant Games. It was released in July 2017 for Microsoft Windows, Linux and PlayStation 4, and in August 2017 for macOS. Elements from sports games were incorporated into the title's gameplay. It was the third game developed by Supergiant following Transistor (2014) and it received generally positive reviews upon release.
The SXSW Gaming Awards were awards given to video games during the annual South by Southwest Festival (SXSW), held in Austin, Texas typically in March of that year. The Awards were part of the SXSW Gaming Expo which is part of the SXSW Interactive branch of the festival.
Golf Story is a 2017 video game developed and published by Australian studio Sidebar Games for the Nintendo Switch. The game was released in North America, Europe, and Australia on 28 September 2017. Golf Story is an adventure game with role-playing (RPG) elements based on the sport of golf. Originally designed as a Wii U release, Golf Story had a lengthy development time, and Sidebar sought assistance from Nintendo to finish the game and release it for the Switch. It was influenced by the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf, released in 1999.
Hades is a 2020 roguelike action role-playing game developed and published by Supergiant Games. It was released for macOS, Nintendo Switch, and Windows following an early access release in December 2018. It was later released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in August 2021, and was released for iOS in March 2024 through Netflix Games.
Rickety Stitchand the Gelatinous Goo is a young adult and middle grade fantasy, graphic novel series. The series includes Rickety Stitch Book 1: The Road to Epoli, Rickety Stitch Book 2: The Middle-Route Run and Rickety Stitch Book 3: Battle Of The Bards.
The 17th British Academy Video Game Awards was hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts on 25 March 2021 to honour the best video games of 2020. It was held as a live-streamed event due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with Elle Osili-Wood as host. This was Wood's first time hosting the ceremony, taking over from Dara Ó Briain who had hosting the BAFTAs ten times between 2008 and 2020.
Dandy Ace is a 2021 roguelike action dungeon crawler video game developed by Mad Mimic and published by Neowiz. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS in March 25, 2021. Console ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch were later released in September 2021, and in November 2021 for the PlayStation 4 version.
Hades II is a roguelike action role-playing game video game developed and published by Supergiant Games. It was announced in December 2022 and was released in early access in May 2024. It is currently an exclusive to Windows, though Supergiant has plans to bring the game to other systems. As the sequel to Hades (2020), it follows Melinoë, Princess of the Underworld and sister to Zagreus, the protagonist of the first game. Melinoë aims to defeat Chronos, the Titan of Time, with the aid of other Olympian Gods.
Logan Cunningham is an American actor. He is best known for his voice roles in video games developed and published by American independent video game development studio Supergiant Games. Cunningham's voice over work in video game titles has received recognition from the video game industry. He was conferred the Performer in a Supporting Role BAFTA Award in 2021 for his work as multiple characters in the roguelike video game Hades.
Jen Zee is an American artist and the art director for Supergiant Games. She joined Supergiant Games in March 2010 as a contractor on Bastion and was quickly brought on as the full time art director for the company. Her art has received positive accolades from critics, and for her work on Hades, she received numerous awards, including the 2021 BAFTA Games Award for Artistic Achievement.
