Failbetter Games is a British video game developer and interactive fiction studio based in London.
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | October 2009 |
| Founders | Alexis Kennedy Paul Arendt |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Chris Gardiner Emily Short Adam Myers Hannah Flynn |
| Products | Fallen London Sunless Sea Sunless Skies |
Number of employees | 12 |
| Website | www.failbettergames.com |
History
editFounded in 2009 by Alexis Kennedy and Paul Arendt, Failbetter is chiefly known for its Fallen London Victorian Gothic franchise (comprising, to date, the Fallen London and Silver Tree browser games and the Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies and Mask of the Rose video games), which has garnered a cult following.[1] Failbetter was also commissioned by BioWare to build a browser-game prologue for Dragon Age: Inquisition,[2] and by UK publisher Harvill Secker to create a puzzle game to accompany The Night Circus.[3][4] The studio has consistently won acclaim for the quality of its writing, world-building and storytelling.[5][6]
In 2016, Alexis Kennedy left Failbetter, citing a desire to work with a variety of other studios and work on his own smaller, more experimental projects.[7]
In February 2017, Failbetter ran a successful Kickstarter for a sequel to Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, raising almost half a million dollars. However, December that same year Failbetter unexpectedly laid off four members of staff, citing the under-performance of the Sunless Sea iPad port, and poor sales of their Sunless Skies in early access.[8][9]
Failbetter was subsequently the target of an extensive but inconclusive investigative report by Eurogamer, which cited Kennedy and other unnamed staff in claiming poor management and a 'toxic' culture had developed since Kennedy's departure.[10]
GamesIndustry.biz awarded Failbetter Games for being one of the best places to work in the games industry in the UK in 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2021.[11][12][13][14]
On 8 June 2023 Failbetter released a romantic visual novel set in the Fallen London universe called Mask of the Rose, which is a prequel to the other games in the franchise.[15]
Games developed
edit| Year | Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Fallen London | Android, Browser, iOS |
| 2012 | Tales of Fallen London: The Silver Tree | Browser |
| 2014 | Dragon Age: The Last Court | |
| 2015 | Sunless Sea | iOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, OS X, PlayStation 4 |
| 2019 | Sunless Skies | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch |
| 2023 | Mask of the Rose | Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows |
References
edit- ^ "How a cult-hit browser game spawned the dark world of 'Sunless Sea'". www.theverge.com. 14 July 2014.
- ^ "The Last Court". PC Games N. 2 November 2014.
- ^ O'Hara, Jan (September 9, 2011). "Author Interview at Writer Unboxed (Part II)". Writer Unboxed. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ Khan, Yasmeen (September 1, 2011). "The Night Circus". Failbetter Games. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
- ^ Hivemind, R. P. S. (15 December 2014). "Best Words of 2014". Rock Paper Shotgun.
- ^ "The City and the Sea". Eurogamer.net. 6 April 2014.
- ^ Brendan Sinclair (25 May 2016). "Alexis Kennedy leaving Failbetter Games".
- ^ Alice O'Connor (7 February 2018). "Failbetter lay off a few staff and delay Sunless Skies". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
- ^ Tom Phillips (2018-02-14). "Behind the sunless scenes". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
- ^ Tom Phillips (2018-02-14). "Behind the sunless scenes". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
- ^ "Page 2 | Revealed: The Best Places to Work in the UK games industry". 22 September 2017.
- ^ "Page 2 | Meet the best places to work in the UK video games industry 2019". 20 September 2019.
- ^ "Here are the winners of the GamesIndustry.biz 2020 UK Best Places to Work Awards". 18 September 2020.
- ^ "Who are the 2021 best places to work in the UK games industry?". 16 September 2021.
- ^ Frech, Ricky (December 2, 2020). "Failbetter Games Announce Next Game in the Fallen London Universe". Dualshockers. Retrieved December 3, 2020.