Mega Cat Studios Explained

Mega Cat Studios
Type:Private
Hq Location City:Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Hq Location Country:US
Industry:Video games
Products:Bite the Bullet
Num Employees:24

Mega Cat Studios is an American video game development and publishing company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 2015 by James Deighan, Nick Mann, and Zack Manko.

Mega Cat develops and publishes games for modern platforms and VR (virtual reality) and physical copy games for video game consoles, such as the Sega Genesis and the Nintendo Entertainment System. The company also publishes physical releases for other retro developers, such as Old Towers by Retrosouls.[1]

History

Mega Cat was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by James Deighan, Nick Mann and Zack Manko in 2015; they, alongside Nathaniel Wilson, Andrew Marsh, and Lauri Coderbrah produced the studio's first game, Almost Hero, for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which generally received a positive reception.[2] A major element of their business model of publishing new video games for "retro systems" has involved including a physical manual and case for each of their releases.[3] Founder James Deighan says that the studio has sought to "recreate that experience of being in the back of your mom’s van coming back from Hills [a department store], opening up the game and reading the instruction manual on the way home."[4]

In February 2017, Mega Cat published Coffee Crisis for the SEGA Genesis.[5] The game was their first to later receive a Windows port with enhanced features, such as additional modes, a procedurally generated roguelite modifier system, and improved graphics, and was later released on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.[6] The PC version of Coffee Crisis was published in conjunction with Zerouno Games.

To avoid having to bring in investors or otherwise raise funding early on in the studio's history, Mega Cat focused on a balancing contracted work for various brands while continuing work on their own IP.[7] The studio has done contract work for such clients as the Pittsburgh Pirates,[8] Devolver Digital,[9] and Columbia Records.[10]

The studio has run crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter for Coffee Crisis, Log Jammers[11] and Phantom Gear.[12] Prior to its crowdfunding campaign, Log Jammers had been an official selection of the 2018 Indie Megabooth and won both the "Best Digital Game Play" and the "Digital Game of the Year" award at Gameacon 2017.[13]

A number of the studio's games were featured as part of the Indie Megabooth, including the aforementioned Log Jammers as well as Little Medusa, Coffee Crisis, and Fork Parker's Crunch Out.[14]

In 2020, ten of the studio's published games were included in a cartridge for the Evercade gaming system.[15]

Games

Year Title Platform(s) Developer(s)
2016Almost HeroNintendo Entertainment SystemMega Cat Studios
2016DushlanNintendo Entertainment SystemPeter McQuillan
2017City TroubleNintendo Entertainment SystemDen Kat Games
2017Coffee CrisisSega Genesis, Microsoft WindowsMega Cat Studios
2017Log JammersNintendo Entertainment System, Microsoft WindowsMega Cat Studios
2017Justice DuelNintendo Entertainment SystemMega Cat Studios
2017Mega Marble WorldSega GenesisMega Cat Studios
2018Little MedusaNintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega GenesisMega Cat Studios
2018Creepy BrawlersNintendo Entertainment SystemMega Cat Studios
2018Creeping it RealNintendo Entertainment SystemMega Cat Studios
2018Sitten KittenNintendo Entertainment SystemMega Cat Studios
2018ExpeditionNintendo Entertainment SystemMega Cat Studios
2018Fork Parker's Crunch OutSuper Nintendo Entertainment SystemMega Cat Studios, Devolver Digital
2019TänzerSega GenesisMikael Tillander
2019Lucky PenguinNintendo Entertainment SystemLukasz Kur and Marcelo Barbosa
2019Old TowersSuper Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega GenesisMega Cat Studios, Retrosouls
2019MultidudeNintendo Entertainment SystemRetrosouls
2019Super PainterNintendo Entertainment SystemRetrosouls
2019Machine CaveNintendo Entertainment SystemAeromangus
2019Phantom GearSega GenesisBits Rule Games
2019Billionaire BansheeNintendo Entertainment SystemBreaking Games
2020Bite the BulletMicrosoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo SwitchMega Cat Studios
2020Lethal WeddingSega Genesis, Nintendo SwitchMega Cat Studios
2020Devwill Too MDSega GenesisManjana Team
2020Arkagis RevolutionSega GenesisSik
2020MisplacedSega GenesisRetrosouls
2020YazzieSega GenesisRetrosouls
2020GLUFSega GenesisRetrosouls
2020Another Reigny DayMicrosoft WindowsMega Cat Studios
2020Alpha KingMicrosoft WindowsMega Cat Studios
2020The MeatingNintendo Entertainment SystemMega Cat Studios
2020Romeow & JulicatSega GenesisMega Cat Studios
2023Microsoft WindowsMega Cat Studios[16]
2023WrestleQuestMega Cat Studios, Skybound Games
2024Mega Cat Studios[17]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Old Towers . May 22, 2020.
  2. Web site: Almost Hero (2016) The Well-Red Mage . November 30, 2017 . June 29, 2020.
  3. Web site: Mega Cat Brings Us on a Modern Nostalgia Trip! - Nerdy But Flirty . January 26, 2018.
  4. Web site: Mega Cat Studios brings retro gaming into the 21st century - Gaming Issue - Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh City Paper . Rebecca . Addison . February 28, 2018 . July 1, 2020.
  5. Web site: Cramer . Haley . 2020-04-17 . A New Sega Genesis Game Is Now On PS4 (And It's About Coffee) . 2022-07-27 . TheGamer . en-US.
  6. Web site: Retro couch brawler Coffee Crisis hits Xbox One - The Indie Game Website . Andrew . May . August 15, 2018 . July 1, 2020.
  7. Web site: Mega Cat Studios Brings New Games To Classic Consoles With Style And Precision . Melissa . Brinks . . August 29, 2018 . May 22, 2020.
  8. Web site: The Pittsburgh Pirate - Mega Cat Games . July 1, 2020.
  9. Web site: 'Fork Parker's Crunch Out' is an SNES game made for charity - Engadget . Jon . Fingas . May 10, 2018 . July 1, 2020.
  10. Web site: Columbia Records: Old Town Road . July 1, 2020.
  11. Web site: Log Jammers, a Modern-Day NES Homage to Windjammers, to Have Kickstarter Campaign for Console Ports . Chris . Compendio . August 29, 2018 . July 1, 2020.
  12. Web site: New Sega Genesis platformer Phantom Gear hits Kickstarter on July 16th – GAMING TREND . Sean . Anthony . July 12, 2019 . July 1, 2020.
  13. Web site: Gordon . Galit . Log Jammers Heading to PAX West 2018, Kickstarter Begins Sept. 12 . 2022-08-10 . gamingcypher.com. 29 August 2018 .
  14. Web site: Retro Gaming and Fork Parker with Mega Cat at PAX West - Indie MEGABOOTH . August 22, 2018 . July 2, 2020.
  15. Web site: Mega Cat Studios - Collection 1 Cartridge - Evercade . July 1, 2020.
  16. Web site: 'Vampire Survivors'-inspired 'Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood' Available Today in Early Access on Steam [Trailer]]. Bloody Disgusting. Mike. Wilson. April 12, 2023. April 12, 2023.
  17. Web site: Five Nights At Freddy's: Into The Pit Press Kit . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20231128000000/https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1PjrRE_uXoMJ:https://presskit.megacatstudios.com/sheet.php&sca_esv=601029419&strip=0&vwsrc=0 . 2023-11-28 . 2024-01-24 . webcache.googleusercontent.com.

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