Adult Swim Games Explained

Adult Swim Games should not be confused with Cartoon Network Games.

Adult Swim Games
Type:Division
Industry:Video games
Hq Location City:Atlanta, Georgia
Hq Location Country:U.S.
Area Served:Worldwide
Parent:Adult Swim

Adult Swim Games (stylized as adult swim games; formerly Williams Street Games) is the video game publishing division of Adult Swim, a brand of The Cartoon Network, Inc..

While Adult Swim had been publishing games since 2005, primarily based on their in-house franchises, it became an official publisher of original indie games in 2011. The publishing division has been praised by critics for the originality and quality of its games.

History

Early history (2005–2010)

Adult Swim partnered with Midway Games in 2005 to begin development on video games based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, The Brak Show and Sealab 2021. The game based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am, was released on November 5, 2007, for PlayStation 2.[1] The game is a golf game with fighting and racing levels. A video game based on Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law has been released by Capcom for PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Wii on January 8, 2008.[2]

Various third-party Flash-based games, such as Robot Unicorn Attack and the Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself) series, were once available for free play on the Adult Swim website,[3] but have been removed from the site in 2020, due to the discontinuation of Flash Player. Adult Swim have also published a number of iPhone, iPad, and Android games, including Robot Unicorn Attack 1 & 2, Amateur Surgeon, Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself): Wedding Day, and Pocket Mortys.[4]

In December 2012, Valve announced costumes for the online first person shooter Team Fortress 2 based on Adult Swim characters. The video game features an in game radio station listenable on most vehicles titled “WDDT CPDG The Swim” which shuffles a collection of songs that were featured on Adult Swim shows and was hosted by Jon from the Adult Swim show Delocated. The video game Poker Night 2 features Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. as a main character.

Adult Swim Games (2011–present)

In 2011, Adult Swim hired Steve Gee to run their games division, in an effort to find original content that fit the brand of Adult Swim - described as "bizarre and absurd humor". This effort was inspired by the financial success of earlier mobile games such as Robot Unicorn Attack and Amateur Surgeon.[5] The publisher began to seek out new indie games to partner with and publish, in an effort to provide a platform for indie games.

On February 15, 2013, Adult Swim published Super House of Dead Ninjas on Steam under their Adult Swim Games publishing label. Adult Swim Games continued to publish select indie games on Steam, including Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe, Völgarr the Viking, Kingsway, Rain World, Jazzpunk[6] and Duck Game.

On May 22, 2018, Adult Swim acquired their first video game developer, Big Pixel Studios, the development studio behind Pocket Mortys.[7] The studio would later close at the end of 2020 following WarnerMedia's decision to restructure the division.[8]

In 2020, Adult Swim released , meant to serve as a conclusion to the series.[9]

In 2022, Adult Swim lost the rights of Rain World to Videocult following prolonged legal disputes, with Akupara Games publishing it.[10]

In 2024, it was announced by the developer of Small Radios Big Televisions, that the game would be removed from all store fronts due to "internal business changes."[11] Parent company Warner Bros. further announced plans to retire more Adult Swim games from online stores later in 2024.[12] However, by May 2024, at least two games from the Adult Swim Games label, Small Radios Big Television and Duck Game, stated that Warner Bros. was returning the publishing rights back to the developers and allow them to continue to distribute the game on storefronts.[13] [14]

List of games published (selection)

Video games published by Adult Swim Games[15] [16]
YearNameNotes
2004InuYasha: Demon Tournament
2005Fullmetal Alchemist: Iron & Flame
2007Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am
Bible Fight
2008Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
Amateur Surgeon 2
2009Pizza CityAlso developer
5 Minutes to Kill Yourself
2010Robot Unicorn Attack
Give Up, Robot
Give Up Robot 2
2011Major Mayhem
Lee-Lee's QuestAlso developer
Monsters Ate My Condo
Snoticles
2012Girls Like Robots
Super Mole Escape
Burrito Bison Revenge
2013Super House of Dead Ninjas
Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe
Fist Puncher
Amateur Surgeon 3: Tag Team Trauma
Volgarr the Viking
Soundodger+
Westerado
2014Castle Doombad
Jazzpunk
Duck GamePublishing duties moved to CORPTRON GAMES CORP[17]
Mega Coin Squad
Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars
Bionic Chainsaw Pogo GorillaAlso developer
2015Robot Unicorn Attack Evolution
ZenzizenzicAlso developer
Oblitus
Traverser
2016Pocket Mortys
Peter PanicAlso developer
Wasted
Headlander
Small Radios Big Televisions
Glittermitten Grove
Frog Fractions 2
Lee-Lee's Quest 2
2017Rise & Shine
Desync
Rain WorldPublishing duties moved to Akupara Games
KingswayPublishing duties moved to Andrew Morrish[18]
Battle Chef Brigade
2018Pool Panic
Death's Gambit
2020
Ray's The DeadHelped fund the game.[19]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Scalzo. John. January 15, 2005. [Midway bags Adult Swim license]. https://web.archive.org/web/20050218091916/http://www.gamingtarget.com/article.php?artid=3971. February 18, 2005. March 16, 2009. Gaming Target, Inc..
  2. Web site: Capcom announces Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070416031243/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/04/13/capcom-announces-harvey-birdman-attorney-at-law/. April 16, 2007. November 25, 2017. Joystiq.com. mdy-all.
  3. Web site: Adult Swim Games. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20170404055904/http://www.adultswim.com/games/. April 4, 2017. 2017-04-03. Adultswim.com.
  4. Web site: Adult Swim on iTunes. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20140411202635/https://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/adult-swim/id398288427. April 11, 2014. June 8, 2013. Itunes.apple.com.
  5. Web site: Williams. Mike. 2013-09-13. Adult Swim Brings "Marketing Muscle" to Great Indie Games. 2020-07-20. USgamer. en. 2020-07-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20200720163827/https://www.usgamer.net/articles/adult-swim-brings-marketing-muscle-to-great-indie-games. dead.
  6. Web site: 2014. Adult Swim Games. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20141007180950/http://store.steampowered.com/search/?publisher=Adult%20Swim%20Games. October 7, 2014. July 12, 2014. Steam Search.
  7. Web site: Hutchins. Robert. 2018-03-28. Turner's Adult Swim grows gaming investment with Big Pixel Studios acquisition. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20180522181134/https://www.licensing.biz/video-games/turners-adult-swim-grows-gaming-investment-with-big-pixel-studios-acquisition. May 22, 2018. 2019-02-02. Licensing.biz.
  8. Web site: Valentine. Rebekah. December 16, 2020. Big Pixel Studios shuts down, impacting about 40. live. December 16, 2020. gamesindustry.biz. https://web.archive.org/web/20201215192638/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-12-15-big-pixel-studios-shuts-down-impacting-about-40 . 2020-12-15 .
  9. Web site: Johnson. Jarrod. February 25, 2020. Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time Is Coming This Summer. live. February 25, 2020. Paste Magazine. https://web.archive.org/web/20200812011852/https://www.pastemagazine.com/games/samurai-jack/samurai-jack-gets-a-console-release-this-summer-20/ . 2020-08-12 .
  10. Web site: 2022-01-29 . Rainworld Ready to Live Again with More Slugcats Mod Becoming Official - Hardcore Gamer . 2023-04-01 . hardcoregamer.com . en-US.
  11. Web site: Purdy . Kevin . 2024-03-06 . “It‘s kind of depressing”: WB Discovery pulls indie game for “business changes” . 2024-03-07 . Ars Technica . en-us.
  12. Web site: Warner Bros. is now erasing games as it plans to delist Adult Swim-published titles . News . Michael . McWhorter . 2024-03-08 . 2024-03-09 . en-US . Polygon.
  13. Web site: Allsop . Ken . 2024-05-10 . Beloved indie game with 97% Steam rating “is safe,” dev confirms amid delisting fears . 2024-05-11 . PCGamesN . en-US.
  14. Web site: McWhertor . Michael . 2024-05-10 . Warner Bros. reverses course, won’t delist Adult Swim indie games, devs say . 2024-05-11 . Polygon . en-US.
  15. Web site: Adult Swim Games . IGDB.
  16. Web site: Adult Swim Games . 2023-02-11 . Adult Swim . en.
  17. https://x.com/superjoebob/status/1788727928143872455
  18. https://x.com/int_main/status/1807459100952867142
  19. Web site: Klepek . Patrick . 2020-11-23 . After 7 Years in Development Hell, No Fairytale Ending for 'Ray's the Dead' . 2024-03-07 . Vice . en.