Few localities in the United States can boast such a unique combination of ocean, mountains, sea surface, and heightened land. Water-friendly Seattle is located on the shores of the winding Puget Bay, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean. A little to the west of the bay stretches the huge Vancouver Island. And to the east of the city, the calm waters of Lake Washington gleam with blue.
Because of the abundance of water, Seattle is always rich in greenery and seafood. And also dogs! Moreover, there are many more of them here than children. It is also home to over 500 successful companies, including such giants as Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon and Starbucks. Not surprisingly, this is where 50+ game companies and top-notch game developers have decided to settle.
Advantages of Choosing Video Game Companies in Seattle
There are a lot of gaming companies in Seattle. The city also leads the pack in high-tech jobs. The Census Bureau ranks Seattle as the most educated city in the United States, with the highest percentage of college graduates compared to other cities in America. Therefore, it should be easy to guess that the gaming services provided by the local studios are of the highest standard.
Gaming giants such as EA, Riot, Valve and Amazon Game Studios have offices here. The choice among the smaller companies is overwhelming: here you will find mobile developers, web game specialists, AR/VR experts, PC and console game creators, and gamification masters. You don’t have to go far to find a good performer, and the size of a studio is not an indicator of quality or a reason to doubt the studio’s expertise. Even the smallest video gaming studios in Seattle can deliver results that their larger peers never dreamed of.
Of course, we will not list all 50+ video game studios in Seattle. We will select the most interesting ones and offer them for your consideration.
Noteworthy Gaming Companies in Seattle
Kevuru Games
Kevuru Games is a large outsourcing studio that provides full-cycle game development services and also performs individual game tasks: creating graphics and animation, programming, testing, sound design, game design, etc. Unlike other gaming companies in Seattle, which are limited to their own projects, Kevuru Games has a large client pool across America and works with a wide variety of client orders. Among the studio’s main American customers are EA, with whom the team has been collaborating for 10 years on HOPA projects, and Lucasfilm: their VR game Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge was replenished with 3D characters created by the 3D team of Kevuru Games.
In addition to gaming services, the studio is engaged in gamification – adding a gaming element to a non-gaming context to increase the engagement of the target audience. The company undertakes both small casual projects and AAA level orders. A versatile portfolio, a large staff of high-level specialists, executives with more than 10 years of experience in the gaming industry make this studio a universal partner for any gaming task.
PopCap Games
PopCap Games is an American casual computer game developer and publisher. It is based in Seattle and was founded in 2000. The main form of distribution for the company’s games is a digital try-and-buy model, which allows users to try the game before purchasing.
The company’s first game, Bejeweled, sold over 25 million copies and earned Hall of Fame status in Computer Gaming World magazine. The company’s games are released on a variety of platforms, including web, PC, game consoles and mobile devices. On September 11, 2007, under the patronage of Valve, PopCap Games released a free promotional version of Peggle based on the games from The Orange Box – Peggle Extreme.
FlowPlay
Speaking of video game studios in Seattle, one cannot pass by the studios dealing with social casino games. FlowPlay, a developer, operator and publisher, develops community-based virtual worlds for people of all ages and backgrounds. Their 4 flagship games are Casino World, Vegas World, Live Game Night and ourWorld.
The company has an extensive multiplayer infrastructure of over 75 million users worldwide, which allows its customers to launch online games under their own brand. If you are considering online gaming, fantasy sports and the casino genre as your key priority, then FlowPlay is a great choice.
Big Fish Games
Since its founding in 2002, Big Fish has been the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of casual games aimed primarily at PC and mobile. Big Fish Games is part of Aristocrat Leisure. On the Big Fish website, you can find games of many genres: hidden objects, time management, match 3, casino, adventure, puzzle, family, arcade, card and board, strategy, mahjong and others.
Big Fish Games distributes over 2,500 casual games to over 500 developers. It claims about 1,500,000 downloads per day from the company’s website. Their service offers downloadable casual games with trial download options in which players get 60 minutes of playtime and then see an offer to buy the full version.
Cascade Game Foundry
Cascade Game Foundry is one of the video game companies in Seattle that specializes in reality-based immersive entertainment products. The team is the creator of Infinite Scuba – a diving simulation game that offers players to explore the underwater world in real-world locations.
The developers come from the former ACES studio of Microsoft, creators of Flight Sim, so they are well versed in developing realistic simulations for both hardcore audiences and fun exploration games for casual audiences. Interestingly, CGF is registered as a social corporation, with the team donating $ 1 of each Infinite Scuba game to ocean nonprofits, and providing Infinite Scuba to teachers and schools for free.
Drifter Entertainment
It is a small game studio created by 3 seasoned AAA game developers who have worked in the gaming industry for years on franchises such as Gears of War, Halo, Doom, and Call of Duty. Drifter has also been creating and working with AR/VR platforms for many years and focuses on creating genre-defining games that are built from the ground up specifically for VR.
Notable studio games – a co-op RPG shooter Gunheart for PC and VR platforms, Ready Player One: Rise of the Gunters – a fast-paced arcade-inspired FPS built from the ground up for VR, and Lies Beneath – a single-player survival horror game for VR. The team is currently working on their next adventure, a next-generation shooter for PCs and consoles.
Endeavor One
Gaming studios follow the latest gaming trends, so there are many VR-focused companies here. Endeavor One is another team of AAA Seattle game developers who have worked together for over a decade at the forefront of the VR movement, experimenting with it as a tool to unleash the full potential games have to offer.
Endeavor One has been active in virtual, mixed and augmented reality spaces for the past seven years. Its past projects include collaborations such as Halo: Recruit for Windows Mixed Reality and Dome of the Dead, a 2019 4-player co-op shooter for the Vulcan’s HoloDome. In 2021, the studio released its first game, Arashi: Castles of Sin, exclusively for PlayStation VR. This is a stealth action game inspired by Kurosawa, set in Japan at the turn of the 16th century.
How to Choose the Most Reliable Partner?
When the choice is large, the eyes run wide. Game companies in Seattle offer a wide range of gaming services and their number can be a bit confusing. We’ve tried to help you a little by selecting 7 good and reliable options, and the further depends only on you.
Remember that all gaming studios in Seattle have their own specialty that they emphasize. For example, it could be a focus on mobile games or a large number of implemented AR/VR projects. It makes sense that if you are looking for a console game developer, you need to look for a studio with a proven track record.
There are universal studios offering comprehensive game development services for all platforms. Be sure to make sure that there is a confirmed case in the portfolio for each service described, otherwise the words will remain just words.
Feedback from previous clients can also be a very useful tool for assessing studio competence. They can be located both on the company’s website and on third-party platforms such as GoodFirms, Clutch and others. They provide information on meeting expectations, timing correctness, and overall impression of the collaboration.
Conclusions
If you are looking for a partner with whom you can collaborate for longer than one project, who can draw, program, invent, test, and release, then this is definitely Kevuru Games.
The versatility of this studio is confirmed by numerous projects in the portfolio – here you will find an excellent track record on both casual and AAA projects. At Kevuru Games, you can fing turnkey game development: all you need is an idea and a description of what you would like to see as a result. The team doesn’t create games for games, but games for players, so you can rest assured that your entertainment product will gain acceptance in the gaming market.
Art, animation, game design, interface design, testing have recently been replenished with topical porting and gamification services. So, if necessary, you can release your game on multiple platforms or add game dynamics to your business application. At the same time, positive feedback on cooperation with Kevuru Gems definitely prevails – see for yourself and allow the studio to make for you an amazing product that meets all your needs.
