Gordon Van Dyke, co-founder of successful Swedish indie publisher Raw Fury, has announced the revival of developer Stumpysquid, the original developer of the popular strategy game. Kingdom: Two Crowns. The studio had previously been acquired by Raw Fury, which published the game, but Van Dyke retained ownership of Stumpysquid when Raw Fury itself was created. purchased by Altor. He left the publishing house in March.
Stumpysquid is currently seeking partners and investors to support the development of the new game, which the company described in a press release as a “micro-strategy survival game” that “builds on the same design foundations that shaped Kingdom Two Crowns, but explores new mechanics, themes and systems to provide a unique and modern experience.”
“Kingdom Two Crowns fans can expect a game that immediately feels intuitive, grounded in familiar design principles, and confident.”
Van Dyke shared details with GamesIndustry.biz. “The core idea for the game's setting actually came about in 2013 after watching season three of The Walking Dead,” he said. “I was fascinated by the idea of making a prison a place where you would want to live in this fantasy world, even though it is a place you would never want to be in real life. This concept stuck with me, and now it seemed like a good time to revisit it. There is a little hint in the new game. I can promise there are no zombies in it, but you will be building bases to survive in some very cool places.”
The studio currently has four employees, and Van Dyke expects to add “two or three more” once investment is secured, but is “deliberately keeping the team small.” It does not include Kingdom series creator Thomas van den Bergh, although Van Dyke said he is “still good friends” with the developer. “I shared the new game and its design ideas with him and, as always, his feedback was incredibly thoughtful and I immediately incorporated it to strengthen the core features of the game.”
The team is committed to self-publishing and is seeking funding of approximately €1.8 million to cover both development and publication. “We have some serious conversations going on that started with paper presentations and then moved into more formal discussions,” says Van Dyke. “I know I have some privilege to conduct these first meetings, but you still need a really good presentation, no matter who you are.”
“So far the concept itself has received very positive feedback. The hardest thing is to move from interest to commitment; all partners wanted to see a playable build. In response, we put together a prototype in just three weeks, which we are now finalizing, which significantly helped and moved several negotiations forward. Without that, I don't think we would have gotten funding or had deeper conversations.”
He said he doesn't work with Raw Fury “other than cheering them on from the sidelines.”
“I'm a creative person at heart, and I wanted to get back into making games,” he said. “This time that meant creating my own IP and running a completely independent studio with close friends, while continuing to build on the core principles of microstrategy and design philosophy that I helped define with the Kingdom series.”
Another Raw Fury founder is Jonas Antonsson. announced his retirement from the publisher last month, leaving it in the hands of CEO Pim Holfve. Chief operating officer Iris Andresdottir left the company along with Van Dyke in March. The company had great success in February with Blue Prince, which amassed two million players by September. According to GameDiscoverCo, the game has sold approximately 600,000 copies on Steam.
