Airship Syndicate Explained

Airship Syndicate Entertainment, Inc.
Type:Private
Hq Location City:Austin, Texas
Hq Location Country:U.S.
Industry:Video games
Num Employees:40
Num Employees Year:2019

Airship Syndicate Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game development company based in Austin, Texas. Founded by several ex-Vigil Games staff including Joe Madureira and Ryan Stefanelli, in 2014, Airship Syndicate is most known for developing (2017), Darksiders Genesis (2019) and (2021).

History

Vigil Games, the creator of the Darksiders series, was shut down after publisher THQ declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The co-founders of Vigil Games, Joe Madureira returned to work for Marvel Comics, while Ryan Stefanelli joined Crytek USA and worked on . After Hunts development was rebooted by Crytek and Madureira finished his work on the comics, the two, alongside ex-Vigil Games animator Steve Madureira, decided to start an independent studio with a small team, as they felt that Vigil grew to become too big. When they were choosing the studio's name, they initially considered using the name "Chaotic Evil", but they dropped the name after realizing that it was once used by a porn site.[1] According to Madureira, they ultimately decided to use the title "Airship Syndicate" instead, since the title reflected a "vibe of exploration and otherworldly technologies".[2]

After the company's establishment, it quickly began developing a dungeon crawling game, which was described by the team as a "love letter" to JRPG.[3] Initially set to be a new intellectual property (IP), the game was later set in the Battle Chasers universe, which was created by Madureira. Madureira had reservations since he considered Battle Chasers to be an old comic book series and he was unsure if "fans would care".[1] Nonetheless, when launched on Kickstarter, it earned more than $850,000, surpassing its initial goal of $500,000. The team expanded since the scope of the project increased significantly during the course of development. The game was released in October 2017 by THQ Nordic and it was both a critical and commercial success.[1]

After the successful release of Battle Chasers: Nightwar, the studio began pitching to THQ Nordic, the owner of the Darksiders IP, about a new installment in the series. Gunfire Games was working on Darksiders III, but due to Airship Syndicate's small size, it wanted to create a game with a smaller scope. The new installment, titled Darksiders Genesis, is played from an isometric perspective, unlike other games in the series. It has a two-year development cycle. The game was released to generally positive reviews in December 2019.[4]

At The Game Awards 2019, the studio announced , a single-player turn-based role-playing game set in the League of Legends universe. Riot Forge published the game.[5] The game was released on November 16, 2021.[6] Airship Syndicate also confirmed that a next-generation console version for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S will be available as a free upgrade at a later date.[7]

During TennoCon 2022, AirShip Syndicate announced that they are collaborating with Digital Extremes for the development of a massively multiplayer online game.[8] The game, Wayfinder, was announced during The Game Awards 2022.[9] In November 2023, Digital Extremes announced that their publishing division had been shut down, and Airship Syndicate will regain full control of the property.[10] On January 31, 2024, the company announced it would lay off 12 employees. President Ryan Stefanelli and CEO Joe Madureira will also take a pay cut.[11]

Games

Year Title Publisher Platform(s)
2017THQ NordicWindows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
2019Darksiders GenesisTHQ NordicWindows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia
2021Riot ForgeWindows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
2024WayfinderAirship SyndicateWindows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The creators of Battle Chasers: Nightwar on comics, RPGs, and almost being Chaotic Evil. Eric. Watson. PC Gamer. October 10, 2017. March 16, 2020.
  2. Former Darksiders Developers Form Airship Syndicate. https://web.archive.org/web/20140928082221/http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2014/09/26/former-darksiders-developers-form-new-studio-airship-syndicate.aspx. dead. September 28, 2014. Andrew. Reiner. Game Informer. September 26, 2014. March 16, 2020.
  3. Web site: Darksiders Devs Using Crowdfunding To Revive Classic Comic Series as JRPG. Tamoor. Hussain. GameSpot. September 8, 2015. March 16, 2020.
  4. Web site: Airship Syndicate comes home to make Darksiders Genesis. Dean. Takahashi. VentureBeat. June 11, 2019. March 16, 2020.
  5. Web site: Ruined King is the first singleplayer League of Legends game. Tyler. Wilde. PC Gamer. December 13, 2019. March 16, 2020.
  6. Web site: Lee . Julia . October 31, 2020 . League of Legends turn-based RPG Ruined King comes to console and PC in 2021 . November 1, 2020 . Polygon.
  7. Web site: 'League of Legends' spin-off 'Ruined King' suddenly arrives on consoles and PC. 2021-11-27. Engadget. en-US.
  8. Web site: Digital Extremes announces Soulframe and indie publishing during TennoCon 2022. Connor. Maker. VG 247. July 16, 2022. July 17, 2022.
  9. Web site: Airship Syndicate Announces New RPG Wayfinder . Gabe . Gurwin . Demi . Williams . December 8, 2022 . December 10, 2022 . .
  10. Web site: Warframe studio confirms "a number of" layoffs as it shuts down publishing arm. Matt. Wales. Eurogamer. November 9, 2023. January 25, 2023.
  11. Web site: Shepard . Kenneth . 2024-01-10 . 59 Days Into 2024 And 8,100+ Video Game Layoffs Have Been Announced . 2024-03-05 . Kotaku . en.