Blind Squirrel Games

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Blind Squirrel Games
Blind Squirrel Entertainment (2016–present)
Websiteblindsquirrelentertainment.com

Blind Squirrel Games is an American video game developer based in Santa Ana, California. It was founded in 2010 by Brad Hendricks and is a subsidiary of Blind Squirrel Entertainment.

History

Brad Hendricks founded Blind Squirrel Games in 2010. While working on the

work-for-hire studios working with larger companies on AAA video games and established the studio in this capacity. The company originally consisted of four people, including Hendricks as chief executive officer.[1] In March 2016, Blind Squirrel Games was reorganized as a subsidiary of Blind Squirrel Entertainment, which was incorporated in Delaware.[2]

By the time Blind Squirrel Games worked with

2K Games on BioShock: The Collection, the studio had grown to 87 people, covering development, design, production, and quality assurance. Hendricks considered this a turning point that would allow the studio to grow past contributing to other developers' projects and begin fully developing games.[1] Due to the cancellation of an unannounced project, Blind Squirrel Games laid off thirteen people (nine artists and four support staff) in May 2018.[3][4] Three further projects, each with twenty to thirty engaged employees, were canceled in October 2018. The studio failed to find new projects for most of these and downsized from 110 to 48 people within six months. Blind Squirrel Games received new jobs in early 2019 and began hiring again.[1]

In March 2019, the company raised US$5 million from undisclosed investors for the development and self-publishing of Drifters. According to Hendricks, the company had been in discussion with "literally every publisher" but failed to find a partner willing to publish an original game from a company that usually worked on external properties.[5][6] It received between US$1 million and US$2 million from the Paycheck Protection Program July 2020.[7] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Blind Squirrel Games operated "almost as normal" with its 110 employees. To improve morale, it used a proprietary platform for employees to join virtual clubs about their interests, a project headed by the senior community manager Kitty Mach.[8] The studio aimed to establish a secondary office in Austin, Texas, with thirty to forty people in late 2020, next to its Santa Ana, California, headquarters.[1]

Games

Year Title Notes Ref(s)
2016 BioShock: The Collection [9]
2017 The Sims 4 PlayStation 4 and Xbox One port [10]
WWE 2K18 Nintendo Switch port [11]
2018 Sunset Overdrive
Windows
port 		[12]
2019
Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced Edition
 		[9]
2021 Mass Effect Legendary Edition Development support [9]
Sonic Colors: Ultimate
 		[13]
TBA Drifters Loot the Galaxy In early access [9]

References

  1. ^
    GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  2. ^ "Blind Squirrel Games Becomes Subsidiary of Newly Formed Blind Squirrel Entertainment, Inc" (Press release). Blind Squirrel Entertainment. March 10, 2016. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  3. Gamasutra. Archived
    from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  4. GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  5. Gamasutra. Archived
    from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  6. GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  7. GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  8. ^ Takahashi, Dean (May 23, 2020). "How Blind Squirrel Games is entertaining its game developers during quarantine". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on May 2, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  9. ^
    GamesIndustry.biz. Archived
    from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  10. ^ "EA Announces The Sims 4 is Coming to Consoles on November 17th". www.businesswire.com. July 26, 2017. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  11. ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 6, 2017). "WWE 2K18 Looks Gnarly On The Switch". Kotaku. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  12. ^ Linneman, John (November 22, 2018). "Sunset Overdrive PC: the game's great – but the port is basic". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  13. ^ Shea, Brian (May 27, 2021). "Sonic Colors: Ultimate Sprints To Modern Platforms This September". Game Informer. Retrieved May 28, 2021.

External links

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