Welcome to San Diego! What interests you at the moment? Mountains and plains on the Pacific coast, surrounded by greenery and plants of the most incredible colors? An ever-blue sky with soaring eagles, seagulls, pelicans and daring hang gliders? Surf beaches flooded with amateurs and pros gliding proudly over the waves?
Imagine a mixture of Spanish flamenco with Mexican influences, Chilean landscapes, European fashion and Moorish architecture – this city has absorbed the brightest colors of various cultures. Voiced, mosaic, cheerful and surprisingly harmonious, exciting and relaxing at the same time, San Diego will surprise anyone.
This variety might not affect local game studios. You’ve probably heard of Daybreak Games, creators of the famous MMORPG Everquest, or The Behemoth, creators of Alien Hominid’s run and gun video game. Both of these studios with almost half a century of history for two are still located in San Diego. Of course, there are also younger studios that have absorbed the local flavor and make it a hallmark of their projects.
Advantages of Choosing Video Game Companies in San Diego
Although the number of game companies in San Diego may not be as large as in other cities, this is offset by the quality of their work. They are so active, dynamic and full of ideas that it is enough to present even the vaguest concept to them, and they will turn it into something completely unimaginable, fresh and different.
Most often, gaming companies in San Diego don’t have a large staff, but you will not be confused by the endless list of services – here each has its specialization. Some studios make games only for mobile devices, others focus on PCs and consoles, and still, others focus on AR and VR. So it will be much easier to find a partner than in the case of large companies that do everything at once.
And now we turn directly to the list of studios whose artistic vision and creative impulse can be useful to you.
Best Gaming Companies in San Diego
Kevuru Games
Kevuru Games is a gaming outsourcing studio with offices in the USA and Ukraine, a ten-year history and a large staff of specialists offering full-cycle development or individual gaming services. Selected services include 2D and 3D graphics and animation, programming, testing, game design and interface design, and gamification services – adding a game element to a non-gaming environment.
The studio is sharpened for games like a fillet knife is sharpened for perfect fillet cutting: there are Unity and Unreal developers, as well as C++ and C # specialists who know everything about game engines for creating entertainment products for PC and mobile devices. The team boasts a huge pool of US clients: Ultrabit, AdoreStudio, Pixelberry Studios and more. The studio’s famous case is a collaboration with Lucasfilm on 3D characters for the game Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge. Before the outbreak of the pandemic, Kevuru Games held a large number of roadshows throughout America and managed to earn a reputation as a reliable partner in the implementation of gaming projects.
Intrepid Studios
Online gaming studio Intrepid Studios was founded by two passionate gamers and successful entrepreneurs. Among other game companies in San Diego, it differs in that it focuses on a specific genre – MMORPG – and has been working on the multiplayer game Ashes of Creation for several years. This game was already awarded Most Anticipated MMORPG in 2017. Also, Intrepid Studios currently has plans for two undeclared projects in the Ashes of Creation universe.
Ashes of Creation is currently in the alpha version. Thereafter, there will be two additional alpha testing phases, as well as two beta deployments prior to the final release of the game.
Namazu Studios
Namazu Studios is a development company specializing in interactive media, entertainment and games. Since 2008, they have been honing their experience in developing original software, as well as porting existing software to additional platforms.
Despite the small staff, the studio can offer a comprehensive solution for the development of a game product. The team is developing in Unity for cross-platform compatibility and working in the field of mobile and console games, VR, AR and casinos. With expertise in a wide variety of fields such as film, television, enterprise development, medicine, industry, games and the arts, the studio can offer a gaming or gamification solution for any concept.
Fastest Digital
Fastest Digital, the youngest of all video game companies in San Diego, is not only involved in games, but also in video production. Their designers and animators have won several awards, and their portfolio already includes several striking projects.
With an emphasis on developing a digital presence for their customers, the Fastest Digital team creates games for iOS, Android, and the web using powerful hybrid and native technologies.
High Moon Studios
Formerly Sammy Studios, now High Moon Studios is an American video game development and production company. Known as the developer of the first-person shooter game Darkwatch and the publisher of the 2D fighting game series Guilty Gear, developed by Arc System Works. It has also been involved in the creation of blockbusters such as Call of Duty and Transformers.
High Moon Studios is led by award-winning veterans and production staff with over 200 years of collaborative development experience. The studio is owned by Activision, the first independent game developer for consoles and personal computers, founded in 1979.
Empty Clip Studios
Empty Clip Studios is another small video game development company based in San Diego and founded in July 2007. On September 8, 2008, the company released its debut game Groovin ‘Blocks, a music puzzle game for WiiWare. The iPhone puzzle game Glow followed on December 17, 2008.
The studio’s next projects were the Auditorium puzzle for PS3/PSP, DLC for Final Fantasy XV called A King’s Tale for PS4 and Xbox One, and Symphony – an indie developed shoot-em-up video game released for Microsoft Windows in 2012 and ported for Linux and Mac OS X in 2014. Although they remained a small business, the team has released 32 games across platforms over the past 13 years, for a total of over 63 SKUs, mostly using their multi-platform RapidFire Engine.
San Diego Studio
A company with a highly eloquent locally colored name, San Diego Studio was founded in 2001 through the merger of Red Zone Interactive and 989 Sports. The first-party studio for SIE – Sony Interactive Entertainment – it is responsible for MLB The Show games. The studio has also developed TV series for NBA, The Mark of Kri, Pain, High Velocity Bowling, and Sports Champions.
The most recent MLB game, MLB The Show 21, was released in April 2021 for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, and for the first time in the series, the game became available on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S consoles.
How to Choose the Most Reliable Partner?
When choosing a partner among game companies in San Diego, pay attention to the specialization of the company. Often, they have either a specific focus or a technical or art direction with which they managed to work most intensively. Expertise can be checked not by the list of services on the website, but by the works presented in the portfolio. If you see there a lot of works related to the direction of game art or development you need, then you can work with this studio. If, of course, you are satisfied with the style and level of their skill.
Also, don’t forget about team size. It may be unimportant for small projects like building a simple mobile game, but AAA games require a lot of specialists. A team of 10 people cannot physically create such a game for you. Also, always clarify how many experts are currently free and can be allocated to your project since a studio can deal with several projects in parallel.
Conclusions
If you are still hesitant about choosing a partner, pay attention to the Kevuru Games game development company. Its feature is versatility – for 10 years of work, it has formed departments of specialists for any game direction and task. Here you can create a game from scratch and bring it to the release stage on the platforms you need, or get specific services for creating art, animation, game design document, sound design, testing and any other services related to game production.
The studio has experience working on AR and VR projects and has already implemented several gamification cases – adding a game element to a non-game environment to increase user engagement. A large team of 300+ people allows us to deal with even the most ambitious projects, and clear and transparent management ensures the impeccable accuracy of all timings.
