Blind Squirrel Games

Blind Squirrel Games is an American video game developer based in Santa Ana, California. It was founded in 2010 by Brad Hendricks and is a subsidiary of Blind Squirrel Entertainment. Notable products include BioShock: The Collection and Mass Effect Legendary Edition.

Blind Squirrel Games
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
Founded2010 (2010)
FounderBrad Hendricks
Headquarters
Santa Ana, California
,
US
Key people
Brad Hendricks (CEO)
ProductsBioShock: The Collection
Number of employees
120 (2020)
ParentBlind Squirrel Entertainment (2016–present)
Websiteblindsquirrelentertainment.com

History

Brad Hendricks founded Blind Squirrel Games in 2010. While working on the back end for the website GameSpy, he felt there had been too few work-for-hire studios working with larger companies on AAA video games and established the studio in this capacity. The company originally consisted of four people, including Hendricks as chief executive officer.[1] In March 2016, Blind Squirrel Games was reorganized as a subsidiary of Blind Squirrel Entertainment, which was incorporated in Delaware.[2]

By the time Blind Squirrel Games worked with 2K Games on BioShock: The Collection, the studio had grown to 87 people, covering development, design, production, and quality assurance. Hendricks considered this a turning point that would allow the studio to grow past contributing to other developers' projects and begin fully developing games.[1] Due to the cancellation of an unannounced project, Blind Squirrel Games laid off thirteen people (nine artists and four support staff) in May 2018.[3][4] Three further projects, each with twenty to thirty engaged employees, were canceled in October 2018. The studio failed to find new projects for most of these and downsized from 110 to 48 people within six months. Blind Squirrel Games received new jobs in early 2019 and began hiring again.[1]

In March 2019, the company raised US$5 million from undisclosed investors for the development and self-publishing of Drifters. According to Hendricks, the company had been in discussion with "literally every publisher" but failed to find a partner willing to publish an original game from a company that usually worked on external properties.[5][6] It received between US$1 million and US$2 million from the Paycheck Protection Program July 2020.[7] During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Blind Squirrel Games operated "almost as normal" with its 110 employees. To improve morale, it used a proprietary platform for employees to join virtual clubs about their interests, a project headed by the senior community manager Kitty Mach.[8] The studio aimed to establish a secondary office in Austin, Texas, with thirty to forty people in late 2020, next to its Santa Ana, California, headquarters.[1]

Games
Year Title Notes Ref(s)
2016 BioShock: The Collection [9]
2017 The Sims 4 PlayStation 4 and Xbox One port [10]
WWE 2K18 Nintendo Switch port [11]
2018 Sunset Overdrive Windows port [12]
2019 Borderlands: Game of the Year Enhanced Edition [9]
2021 Mass Effect Legendary Edition [9]
Sonic Colors: Ultimate [13]
TBA Drifters Loot the Galaxy In early access [9]

References
  1. Valentine, Rebekah (February 13, 2020). "Blind Squirrel Games' decade-long drift from work-for-hire to original IP". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on June 6, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  2. "Blind Squirrel Games Becomes Subsidiary of Newly Formed Blind Squirrel Entertainment, Inc" (Press release). Blind Squirrel Entertainment. March 10, 2016. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  3. Kidwell, Emma (May 9, 2018). "Blind Squirrel Games lays off staff due to financial woes". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  4. Batchelor, James (May 9, 2018). "BioShock Remastered studio lays off 10% of workforce after project cancellation". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  5. Kidwell, Emma (March 14, 2019). "Blind Squirrel lands $5M in funding to self-publish its first game, Drifters". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  6. Valentine, Rebekah (March 14, 2019). "Blind Squirrel secures $5m in funding for first self-published game". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  7. Sinclair, Brendan (July 10, 2020). "Game companies line up for pandemic relief loans". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on August 14, 2020. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  8. Takahashi, Dean (May 23, 2020). "How Blind Squirrel Games is entertaining its game developers during quarantine". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on May 2, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  9. Sinclair, Brendan (April 27, 2021). "Blind Squirrel on balancing work-for-hire with original ambitions". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on May 1, 2021. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  10. "EA Announces The Sims 4 is Coming to Consoles on November 17th". www.businesswire.com. July 26, 2017. Archived from the original on November 1, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  11. D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 6, 2017). "WWE 2K18 Looks Gnarly On The Switch". Kotaku. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
  12. Linneman, John (November 22, 2018). "Sunset Overdrive PC: the game's great – but the port is basic". Eurogamer. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  13. Shea, Brian (May 27, 2021). "Sonic Colors: Ultimate Sprints To Modern Platforms This September". Game Informer. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
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