When players think of game developers, they think of the absolute best. People tend to think of either the veterans of the industry or franchise titans, whose announcements always make headlines. But game development is not always so gratifying; many developers never get to work on original projects. There are a lot of devs stuck doing ports, remasters or co-developing for those bigger name studios. However, this makes them experienced in their own right—and they have had enough of being benched.
When enough time has gone by and the opportunity comes knocking, they go for a pitch and astonishingly pull off a great game. Alternatively, they may garner a great reputation for the utmost technical excellence, past the typical supporting efforts. Fortunately, it seems this has been happening more often in recent years. We are approaching a point in the industry where developers have matured, and the veterans have mentored their pupils. What used to be the younger generation of game designers are now showing the industry they really have what it takes. Considering the complexity of the industry though, even this may vary from team to team. All of them should be equally appreciated for their work.
Obscure Developers Making Game of the Year
In recent memory, the studio to make the biggest mark is Game of the Year winner Sandfall Interactive for their game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. They may be a full studio now, but the team is made of people from various production partners. Alone, each member may have not done work on an important project, unless they were in a smaller role. After all, the gall to make a game off one single person’s unproven concept alone, is probably built off the frustration of not doing significant work prior to it. This game was the chance for all of Sandfall Interactive members to prove themselves. Instead of being a smaller part of an already unfulfilling supporting development role, the designer can actually craft an experience that is tangible to them.
Several interviews show how serendipitous the creation of the game was, relying on the gumption of yet unproven folk. It oozes passion from every single role of the game’s design, being the vocals, music, art direction and combat, among many other valuable elements of the project. The game is a great example for devs to not only step up their design, but to make their own pitches and move from a mild supporting role to more fulfilling work.
Technical Excellence
That is not to say that the general supporting role does not have its merits. Two studios in particular are renowned for their excellent technical performance, enhancing a previously established experience. Bluepoint Games, notably shut down in recent events, was responsible for the best remasters on PlayStation. The fact that there was a widespread internet backlash to Sony putting them down is a testament to their contributions to the industry.
The most famous of their work are the remakes of Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Souls, masterpieces in their own right. These games were in their own way defining releases for their respective systems, being the PS4 and PS5. Demon’s Souls is especially crucial for being a launch game for the PS5, one of the few exclusives from Sony to this day. It is no surprise this studio did great work, as members were made up of developers who migrated from the acclaimed Retro Studios. Through this lens, Bluepoint can be seen as another case of experienced designers finally getting a chance to show what they are capable of and getting appreciated by millions of fans for their work.
The Impossible Ports
Panic Button, in a similar capacity to Bluepoint, contributed to another gaming ecosystem. They are most recognized for their nigh impossible work on ports for the Nintendo Switch, effectively being high performance demakes. Though it might be a disservice to call them demakes—their technical efficacy makes the games perform pretty stable and extremely similar to the “whole” experience on stronger hardware. These famous ports include Bethesda’s Doom (2016), Doom Eternal and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. Before Panic Button came in, it was not thought possible to get these modern games on a weaker system like the Nintendo Switch.
Even when the ports were announced (and delayed), they were met with healthy skepticism. Would they even resemble the actual experience? Would they run well, and keep all the game’s features? To the surprise of several fans, they made it work. Sure, the graphics were turned down and the framerate was split in half—but each port actually resembled the game. They played very stable, becoming a viable way to play them if all you had was the Nintendo Switch. After these ports, Panic Button became a technical confidant for Nintendo with their new reputation, eventually working on the Switch 2 upgrades of Super Mario Odyssey, Arms and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.
Another “Game of the Year” From a Co-Developer
Another inspiring case for supporter devs comes from NeoBards Entertainment, a Hong Kong dev company usually responsible for co-development and ports. The NeoBards studios had been involved in full-on development but only for the demake of Final Fantasy XV, being the pocket edition, and the failed live-service game Resident Evil: Resistance. Their opportunity to fully develop a proper AAA game and inject their own creativity came with Silent Hill F. The game was received well by players and critics, going on to win Game of the Year at the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2026.
This was their first project of this caliber and originality, finally breaking them out of a reputation for a supporting role. It was their game, commissioned by Konami. On their website, NeoBards Entertainment also notes that they are currently developing their first completely original game. For the studios under the company, this is definitely a big change from the previous years, being able to have their work represent themselves, rather than being a secondary or tertiary credit.
Underdogs of the Industry
What is so important about recognizing this shift in the industry is that players don’t have to keep looking at the same studios for high quality content. There’s no need to always go scavenging for “hidden gems” among indies, as there are now even more experienced supporting developers thinking: “we should make our game.” With publishers like Konami expanding their IPs, and the greater industry relying on collaborations due to increasing development times, we can expect more unique projects and underrated studios to start hitting the scene. I think game designers are just as tired as players of the stagnation in the business, looking to offer something new with a unique take. That is the only way these projects would be possible.
One of my favorite patterns so far, in the vein of Silent Hill F, is how a lot of these studios tend to be those that have done collaborations with publishers—finally trusted to handle a big IP. Sure, it’s a networking privilege for certain studios, but it does express their enduring passion to build that confidence over several years and earn those roles. These developers tend to already do full development, though only on far smaller games with a proportional budget.
Building Old Franchises, Developing New Content
A good example is the studio MAGES that worked on Nintendo’s Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club. They remade the two prior entries, before being trusted to work on the official sequel. Fittingly, the remakes were made likely due to a single, adamant MAGES staff member. Nintendo did the same with studio Grezzo, leading to the recent release, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. This comes after Grezzo worked on several ports and remasters. It is extremely satisfying to see these relationships being rewarded. I can imagine the devs in leadership roles at these studios telling their coworkers years ago, “Don’t worry, we’ll get the chance to work on an original project…in a decade.” But that’s just how the industry goes, and the path was indeed paved.
Change in the Gaming Industry
Publishers are probably not getting enough credit here. It is difficult for the business of video games to invest a lot of money in any kind of original idea, even in an established franchise. With costs of development getting higher and higher, it is even riskier for a publisher to approve a project, understandably. It is only in recent years that publishers have gotten more comfortable approving more projects, in spite of the circumstances swinging back and forth like a pendulum. More remasters, more ports, more remakes and now—new entries.
This is not the same for all parts of the industry, as it will always be and continue to be extremely brutal for the average developer. Yet for this point in time, with Nintendo hiring more workers, Konami producing more sequels, new studios forming and working relationships blooming; we should take time to recognize the developers that have stayed all this time.
Everyone is waiting for the chance to work on the next big thing, with thousands of original pitches being shot down behind closed doors quite frequently. You could argue that any success story from those in supporting roles is a miracle, each and every time. It is my hope that these teams become the new big names and keep the cycle going, to innovate—evolve the industry. In order to defeat the current stagnation.
