Coffee Stain Studios

Coffee Stain Studios AB
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded2010; 14 years ago (2010)
Founders
  • Anton Westbergh
  • Johannes Aspeby
  • Mikael Mård
  • Oscar Jilsén
  • Gustaf Tivander
  • Daniel Lundwall
  • Markus Rännare
  • Joakim Sjöö
  • Stefan Hanna
Headquarters
Skövde
,
Sweden
Key people
Emilia Oscarsson (Studio Manager)
RevenueDecrease 657.2 million kr [1] (2022)
Number of employees
123[1] (2022)
ParentCoffee Stain Holding AB
Websitecoffeestainstudios.com

Coffee Stain Studios AB is a Swedish video game developer based in Skövde. Founded in 2010 by nine University of Skövde students, the company is best known for Goat Simulator, which was released in April 2014, and Satisfactory, released in September 2024. Their parent holding company also operates Coffee Stain Publishing, a publisher, and majority-owns developers Coffee Stain North (formerly Gone North Games) and Lavapotion. In November 2018, the Coffee Stain group was acquired by THQ Nordic AB (later known as Embracer Group).

History

[edit]
Logo used 2010–2016

Coffee Stain Studios was founded in 2010 in Skövde, Sweden, by a group of nine students at the University of Skövde: Anton Westbergh, Johannes Aspeby, Mikael Mård, Oscar Jilsén, Gustaf Tivander, Daniel Lundwall, Markus Rännare, Joakim Sjöö and Stefan Hanna.[2] Their first game, I Love Strawberries, was released at the end of that year for iOS by Atari.[3]

In 2010, Coffee Stain participated in "Make Something Unreal", a modding competition for Unreal Tournament 3 held by Epic Games and Intel, with their mod, Sanctum.[4] The mod was received well, leading Coffee Stain to adopt the Unreal Development Kit to develop Sanctum into a standalone game.[4] In March the following year, the company struck a five-year licensing agreement with Epic for their Unreal Engine 3 technology.[5] Sanctum as a standalone game was released in April 2011,[4] and was followed by a sequel, Sanctum 2, in May 2013.[6] In February 2014, Coffee Stain acquired the rights for I Love Strawberries from Atari and re-released the game for iOS with some improvements.[3]

Coffee Stain gained significant recognition with their April 2014 release of Goat Simulator.[7] While the title received mixed critical reviews, as it was released in a purposely buggy state to take advantage of its ragdoll physics, it became highly successful through Let's Play videos and live streamers. By August 2014, Goat Simulator had outperformed all sales of the studio's previous games combined,[7] and had generated over US$12 million in revenue by March 2016.[8]

On 23 February 2017, Coffee Stain announced Coffee Stain Publishing, a subsidiary that would act as the publishing entity within the Coffee Stain group.[9] The first title to be released through Coffee Stain Publishing was Huntdown by Swedish development team Easy Trigger Games.[9] The following day, Coffee Stain acquired a minority stake in Danish developer Ghost Ship Games, becoming the publisher of their upcoming game, Deep Rock Galactic.[10] In April 2017, Coffee Stain also invested in newly founded, Gothenburg-based studio Lavapotion, gaining a minority stake.[11] In July 2017, Daniel Kaplan, the first employee of Swedish developer Mojang, left Mojang to join Coffee Stain Publishing.[12]

On 30 January 2018, Coffee Stain announced Levelling the Playing Field, a funding initiative aimed at small companies that employ at least as many women as men and require at most 1 million kr (about $127,000) in funding.[13] Through this initiative, Coffee Stain invested in Danish developer Other Tales Interactive (a team of two women) in exchange for a minority stake.[13][14] A second studio, Stockholm-based Kavalri, was invested in under this programme in November 2019.[14] The following day, Coffee Stain acquired a majority stake in Gone North Games, a Swedish developer that had developed Coffee Stain-published A Story About My Uncle and downloadable content for Goat Simulator.[15] With the acquisition, Gone North Games was rebranded as Coffee Stain North.[15]

On 14 November 2018, the Coffee Stain group of companies and its intellectual property were acquired by Swedish holding company THQ Nordic AB (later known as Embracer Group) for 317 million kr (about $34.9 million), with the potential of additional payouts should they reach certain milestones.[16] Coffee Stain continues to operate independently within Embracer Group, with Coffee Stain co-founder Westbergh remaining chief executive officer.[16] At the time, the Coffee Stain group had 45 employees, of which Coffee Stain Studios employed 24.[2] This number rose to 25 by August 2019.[17]

Coffee Stain expanded Levelling the Playing Field in September 2020 to cover teams including racially and ethnically diverse people, women and non-binary people. Happy Broccoli Games became the third investment under this initiative.[18] On November 18, 2020, Embracer announced they would purchase out the 40% stake in Coffee Stain North from their founders and transition it to a fully-owned subsidiary of Coffee Stain.[19]

In August 2021, Embracer Group acquired Ghost Ship Games and Easy Trigger, having them both be under the umbrella of Coffee Stain Holding.[20] In March 2022, Coffee Stain announced that they had partnered with Rare Earth Games, an Austrian developer owned by Coffee Stain's sister company Amplifier Game Invest, to publish a new co-op action IP.[21]

In August 2022, as part of a large purchase of properties, Embracer was confirmed to have acquired a "secret developer" for $100 million which would transition under Coffee Stain. In December, it was revealed by several news outlets that the purchase was of the Roblox game developer Shortcake AB and their game "Welcome to Bloxburg" for $100 million, and renamed as Coffee Stain Gothenburg.[22] The game's creator, Coeptus, officially confirmed the new partnership in January 2023.[23]

Subsidiaries

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Coffee Stain Holding

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  • Box Dragon in Gothenburg, Sweden, founded in 2020, majority stake purchased in August 2021. (majority)[1]
  • Coffee Stain Malmö in Malmö, Sweden, founded in February 2022.[1]
  • Coffee Stain Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden, founded as Shortcake AB, acquired in August 2022.[24]
  • Coffee Stain North in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as Gone North Games in 2013, 60% majority stake acquired in January 2018, fully purchased in November 2020.[2]
  • Coffee Stain Publishing, founded in February 2017.[2]
  • Coffee Stain Studios in Skövde, Sweden, founded in 2010[2]
  • Easy Trigger in Trollhättan, Sweden, founded in 2016, acquired in August 2021.[25]
  • Iron Gate Studios in Skövde, Sweden, founded in April 2019, 30% minority stake purchased in February 2021.[1]
  • Lavapotion in Gothenburg, Sweden, founded in 2017, 60% majority stake purchased in April 2017.[2]
  • Other Tales Interactive in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded in November 2016, 20% minority stake purchased in January 2018.[2]

Ghost Ship Holding

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Ghost Ship Holding, the holding business for developer Ghost Ship Games, was acquired by Embracer Group in August 2021 and placed under Coffee Stain Holding. It operates as a separate subsidiary.[26]

  • Ghost Ship Games in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded in Spring 2016.[2][26]
  • Ghost Ship Publishing, founded in February 2023.[27]
  • Game Swing in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded in 2013, minority stake purchased in May 2022.
  • Half Past Yellow in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded in 2017, minority stake purchased in May 2022.[1]
  • Ugly Duckling Games in Aarhus, Denmark, founded in 2019, minority stake purchased in May 2022.[1]
  • Bolverk Games in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded in 2015, minority stake purchased in January 2023.[28]

Games developed

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Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s)
2010 I Love Strawberries iOS Atari
2011 Sanctum macOS, Windows Coffee Stain Studios
2013 Super Sanctum TD iOS, macOS, Windows
Sanctum 2 Linux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
  • Coffee Stain Studios
  • Reverb Publishing
2014 Goat Simulator Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox 360, Xbox One
2019 Satisfactory (early access) Windows Coffee Stain Publishing
2024 Satisfactory Windows Coffee Stain Publishing

Games published

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Year Title Platform(s) Developer(s)
2014 A Story About My Uncle Linux, macOS, Windows Gone North Games
2016 The Westport Independent Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows Double Zero One Zero
2018 Puppet Fever Windows Coastalbyte Games
2019 Tick Tock: A Tale for Two Android, iOS, macOS, Nintendo Switch, Windows Other Tales Interactive
2020 Deep Rock Galactic PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One Ghost Ship Games
Huntdown Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One Easy Trigger
2021 Valheim Linux, macOS, Windows, Xbox Iron Gate
2022 Midnight Ghost Hunt (early access) Linux, macOS, Windows Vaulted Sky Games
2022 Songs of Conquest (early access) macOS, Windows Lavapotion
2022 Goat Simulator 3 PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S Coffee Stain North
2024 Goat Simulator Remastered PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox Series X/S Coffee Stain Studios, Coffee Stain North, Fishlabs
TBA As We Descend Windows Box Dragon

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Embracer Annual Report & Sustainability Report 2021-2022" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "THQ Nordic AB (publ) acquires Coffee Stain" (PDF). Embracer Group. 14 November 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
  3. ^ a b Carmichael, Stephanie (28 February 2014). "Week in Mobile: Why one developer brought its first game back to iOS". GameZone. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Hillier, Brenna (23 March 2011). "Make Something Unreal darlings sign commercial UE3 deal". VG247. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  5. ^ IGN Staff (23 March 2011). "Coffee Stain Studios Signs Five-Year Exclusive UE3 Licensing Agreement". IGN. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  6. ^ Cook, Dave (16 May 2013). "Sanctum 2 launch trailer is go, game out now on XBLA, Steam". VG247. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  7. ^ a b Lien, Tracy (12 August 2014). "A game about a goat has sold almost one million copies". Polygon. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  8. ^ Wawro, Alex (15 March 2016). "Devs share real talk about surviving the latest 'indiepocalypse'". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  9. ^ a b Pearson, Dan (23 February 2017). "Coffee Stain Studios becomes a publisher". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  10. ^ Sinclair, Brendan (24 February 2017). "Coffee Stain invests in Ghost Ship Games". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  11. ^ Pearson, Dan (6 April 2017). "Coffee Stain invests in new Gothenberg studio Lavapotion". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  12. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (27 July 2017). "Daniel Kaplan leaves Mojang for Coffee Stain". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  13. ^ a b Kerr, Chris (30 January 2018). "Coffee Stain launches funding initiative to promote gender equality". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 15 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  14. ^ a b Sinclair, Brendan (26 November 2019). "Coffee Stain invests in Kavalri". GamesIndustry.biz.
  15. ^ a b Kerr, Chris (31 January 2018). "Coffee Stain acquires and rebrands Gone North Games". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  16. ^ a b Kerr, Chris (14 November 2018). "THQ Nordic acquires Coffee Stain and Bugbear Entertainment". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
  17. ^ Wingefors, Lars (27 August 2019). "THQ Nordic Annual Report 2018/19" (PDF). Cision. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  18. ^ Valentine, Rebekah (9 September 2020). "Coffee Stain expands Levelling the Playing Field to fund racially diverse studios". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  19. ^ "Embracer Group acquires Coffee Stain North" (Press release).
  20. ^ Bonthuys, Darryn (5 August 2021). "Embracer Group Acquires 3D Realms And Several Other Studios". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Coffee Stain x Rare Earth Games". Coffee Stain Studios. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  22. ^ "Popular Roblox game Welcome to Bloxburg reportedly acquired by Embracer Group in $100 million deal". 29 December 2022.
  23. ^ @RBX_Coeptus (9 January 2023). "To our Welcome to Bloxburg Community" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  24. ^ "Did we make ANY of these games?!". YouTube. 3 March 2023.
  25. ^ "Embracer Group acquires Easy Trigger". News Powered by Cision. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  26. ^ a b "Embracer Group acquires Ghost Ship Games". News Powered by Cision. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  27. ^ Marshall, Cass (16 February 2023). "Deep Rock Galactic dev launches publishing label for Danish studios". Polygon. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  28. ^ Embracer Group Annual Report 22/23
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