Kwalee
 | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (July 2024) |
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | David Darling |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people |
|
| Subsidiaries | Tictales |
| Website | kwalee |
Kwalee Ltd. is a British video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in May 2011 by David Darling, co-founder and former CEO of Codemasters.[1] The company publishes hypercasual games on mobile, PC, console, and mobile platforms. Based in Leamington Spa in the county of Warwickshire,[2] Kwalee is one of the several companies that make up the Leamington Spa video gaming cluster. The name is Australian Aboriginal for “wait for me”, the name of a sailboat owned by Darling's grandfather.[3]
As of 2022, the company also has offices in Bangalore,[4] Beijing[5] and Portugal.[6] Kwalee employs over 180 people in its offices,[7] including Andrew Graham (designer and programmer of Micro Machines) and COO Jason Falcus (programmer of NBA Jam).[8]
History
[edit]In 2019, the company began to publish PC and console games with Max Everingham from Team17 through a new division.[9] These games are published under the brand "Kwalee Gaming".
In 2018, Kwalee implemented a profit sharing scheme where employees would receive bonuses based on the success of their games; in February 2020, Kwalee claimed that £1 million in bonuses were paid.[10][11]
In 2021, Kwalee donated their game Teacher Simulator's UK profits during the first week of the school term to FareShare, a charity that tackles child food poverty in the United Kingdom.[12]
Less than one month after the release of Luna Abyss (a AA shooter) in 2021, the entire development team of Kwalee Labs was laid off. No reason was given to the public; in a personal LinkedIn post, CEO Hollie Emery stated that the decision was "completely outside of their control".[13]
On 24 January 2022, Kwalee acquired the French studio Tictales, who published visual novel mobile games.[14]
On 5 July 2024, Kwalee acquired a 3.58% minority share in Devolver Digital.[15]
On 10 October 2024, Microids established a new third-party publishing division with Kwalee. The first published title under it was The Precinct.[16]
Published titles
[edit]Mobile games
[edit]| Year | Name | Genre | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Text Express: Word Adventure | Puzzle | iOS and Android |
| 2023 | Landlord Simulator | Simulation | iOS and Android |
| 2022 | Perfect Coffee 3D | Simulation | iOS and Android |
| 2022 | Airport Security | Simulation | iOS and Android |
| 2020 | Line Up: Draw the Criminal | Simulation | iOS and Android |
| 2020 | Hook and Smash | Arcade | iOS and Android |
| 2020 | Sneak Thief 3D | Action | iOS and Android |
| 2020 | Bake it | Simulation | iOS and Android |
| 2020 | OverTake | Racing | iOS and Android |
| 2020 | TENS! | Puzzle | Steam and Nintendo Switch |
| 2019 | Off the Rails 3D | Arcade | iOS and Android |
| 2019 | Crazy Shopping | Arcade | iOS and Android |
| 2019 | Drop & Smash | Arcade | iOS and Android |
| 2019 | Rocket Sky! | Arcade | iOS and Android |
| 2019 | Shootout 3D | Puzzle | iOS and Android |
| 2019 | Jetpack Jump | Sports | iOS and Android |
| 2019 | Draw It | Arcade | iOS and Android |
| 2018 | Go Fish | Sports | iOS and Android |
| 2018 | PLANK! | Arcade | iOS and Android |
| 2018 | Looper! | Music | iOS and Android |
| 2018 | Skiddy Car | Racing | iOS and Android |
| 2018 | SPILLZ | Puzzle | iOS and Android |
| 2017 | TENS! | Puzzle | iOS and Android |
| 2012 | Farm Fighters | Arcade | iOS and Android |
| 2012 | Flip the Cats | Puzzle | iOS and Android |
| 2012 | Gobang Social | Puzzle | iOS and Android |
PC & console games
[edit]| Year | Game | Developers | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | TENS! | Sock Monkey Studios | PC, Nintendo Switch |
| Eternal Hope | Doublehit Games | PC | |
| 2022 | Scathe | DAMAGE STATE | PC |
| 2023 | Die by the Blade | Triple Hill Interactive, Toko Midori Games | PC PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch |
| Wildmender | Muse Games | PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC | |
| 2024 | Robobeat | Inzanity | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch |
| Voidwrought | PowerSnake | PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S | |
| In Sink | Clock Out Games | PC | |
| The Spirit of the Samurai | Digital Minds s.l. | PC | |
| 2025 | The Precinct | Fallen Tree Games | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S |
| Space Chef | Blue Goo Games | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch | |
| Feign | Teneke Kafalar | PC | |
| 2026 | Don't Stop, Girlypop! | Funny Fintan Softworks | PC |
| Hordes of Hunger | Hyperstrange | PC | |
| The Coin Game | devotid | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S | |
| GRIME II | Clover Bite | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S | |
| Modulus: Factory Automation | Happy Volcano | PC | |
| Ground Zero | Malformation Games | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S | |
| Call of the Elder Gods | Out of the Blue Games | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 | |
| Rune Dice | Smart Raven Studio | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch | |
| Luna Abyss | Kwalee Labs | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S | |
| Town to City | Galaxy Grove | PC | |
| Shift at Midnight | Bun Muen | PC, Xbox Series X/S | |
| lily's world XD | Emily Pitcher | PC | |
| Talespinner | Flash Cat Games | PC, Nintendo Switch | |
| Sprawl Zero | Maeth | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 | |
| Welcome to Elderfield | Chris Cote | PC | |
| RetroSpace | The Wild Gentlemen | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 | |
| Afterbeat | Vitamin Games | PC | |
| Lost Hellden | Artisan Studios | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch | |
| BPM Bitcrushed | Awe Interactive | PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch | |
| Hark the Ghoul | Deep Denizens | PC | |
| TBA | Steam to Electric | Galaxy Grove | PC |
| Vampire: The Masquerade - Eternal Whispers | Flyos | PC |
Awards
[edit]In 2012, Kwalee was named in the Startups 100 awards as one of the UK's most innovative, inspiring and ground-breaking new companies.[17]
In 2019, its game Shootout 3D was awarded a TIGA award for 'Best Puzzle Game'.[18]
In App Annie's Top Publisher Awards 2021, awarded based on overall mobile downloads throughout 2020, Kwalee was named the UK's biggest mobile game publisher by downloads and the UK's third highest-ranked app publisher overall behind the BBC and the NHS.
In 2021, Kwalee was nominated in the Best Publisher[19] and Best Developer[20] categories at the PocketGamer.biz Mobile Game Awards.
In 2022, the company won the title as Publisher of the Year at both the TIGA Games Industry Awards 2022[21] and the PocketGamer Mobile Game Awards 2022.[22]
It was also named in the Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2021,[23] 2022,[24] 2023,[25] and 2024.[26]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Leamington Festival Celebrates the Making of Silicon Spa". Warwickshire County Council. 14 May 2013.
- ↑ "Kwalee's David Darling on the new challenge of making games and apps for iOS | interview". PocketGamer.biz. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
- ↑ "About Kwalee". Kwalee.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2026. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- ↑ Kumar, Nitesh (19 May 2020). "Mobile games developer Kwalee to open first overseas studio in India". TechRadar. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ↑ "Kwalee to open Chinese office". GamesIndustry.biz. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ↑ "Kwalee opens new office in Portugal". European Gaming. 12 May 2022. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
- ↑ Hughes, Ian (20 February 2020). "Million pound plus bonus payout for staff at Leamington firm". Leamington Observer.
- ↑ Crookes, David (26 August 2014). "Games Developers Jason Falcus and David Darling to Reunite at Kwalee". The Independent.
- ↑ Barton, Seth (29 January 2021). "Kwalee hires industry veteran Max Everingham from Team17 to lead console and PC publishing drive". MCV. ISSN 1469-4832. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ↑ Pratt, Louron (25 February 2020). "Kwalee's profit sharing scheme has paid £1 million to 73 staff since 2018". Employee Benefits.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Taylor, Haydn (27 February 2020). "Kwalee and the power of profit sharing". Gamesindustry.biz.
- ↑ "UK Game Developer Kwalee Pledging Profits From Hit Title 'Teacher Simulator' to Help Tackle Child Food Poverty". press.kwalee.com. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Ruiz, Fran (6 January 2021). "Kwalee lays off the entire Luna Abyss development team as one of this year's overlooked bullet-hell games falls victim to an overcrowded release schedule". Eurogamer.
- ↑ Partis, Danielle (24 January 2022). "Kwalee acquires Tictales". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ↑ McEvoy, Sophie (5 July 2024). "Kwalee makes minority investment in Devolver Digital". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ↑ Blake, Vikki (10 October 2024). "Microids launches new third-party publishing division with Kwalee collaboration". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
- ↑ "Startups 100 2012 - Kwalee". 8 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ↑ "TIGA 2019 Winners". TIGA. Archived from the original on 8 November 2019.
- ↑ Staff, PocketGamer biz (8 July 2021). "The Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2021 finalists". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ↑ Staff, PocketGamer biz (8 July 2021). "The Pocket Gamer Mobile Games Awards 2021 finalists". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ↑ "Kwalee wins Publisher of the Year award at TIGA 2022 Game Industry awards". 11 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
- ↑ "The Winners of 2022". Mobile Games Awards. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
- ↑ Staff, PocketGamer biz (6 September 2021). "The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2021". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
- ↑ "The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2022". www.pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
- ↑ "The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2023". www.pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
- ↑ "The Top 50 Mobile Game Makers of 2024". www.pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 11 October 2024.