Harebrained Schemes

Studio co-founder Jordan Weisman in 2006

In 2011, Weisman and Gitelman reunited to work on the mobile game Crimson: Steam Pirates, which became Harebrained Schemes' first game. The following year, the studio released a second mobile game, Strikefleet Omega. Both games were well received, with Crimson: Steam Pirates making Metacritic's "Best iPhone Games of 2011" list and Strikefleet Omega making the Google Play store's "Best Games of 2012" list.[1]

Harebrained then went on to develop several games in the Shadowrun franchise. In 2012, the studio raised $1.8 million through Kickstarter to fund the development of Shadowrun Returns,[4] becoming only the third studio to raise $1 million on Kickstarter.[5] The studio had been considering using Kickstarter as a funding source since 2011, but it was not until the Kickstarter for Broken Age raised over $3 million that Harebrained Schemes felt that the crowdfunding platform could be a viable funding option.[1] The game was released in mid-2013.[6] One of the campaign's stretch goals was a second city, which became the expansion campaign Shadowrun: Dragonfall. Dragonfall was released free to backers of Shadowrun Returns, and in September 2014 was re-released (still free to backers) as a stand-alone game, Shadowrun: Dragonfall – Director's Cut.[7][8]

The studio returned to Kickstarter to fund Shadowrun: Hong Kong in early 2015.[5] Work on Shadowrun: Hong Kong had already begun using the studio's own funds by the time that the Kickstarter campaign was launched; the money raised through Kickstarter instead went towards expanding the amount of content that they would be able to put into the game.[5] The studio set a funding goal of $100,000, which it reached in two hours;[9] the campaign would go on to raise $1.2 million.[10] The series has been well reviewed by critics. Shadowrun Returns received an aggregate rating of 76/100 on Metacritic. As an expansion, Shadowrun: Dragonfall received a score of 81/100, while the stand-alone re-release received a score of 87/100. Shadowrun: Hong Kong received a score of 81/100.[11]

In addition to its Shadowrun titles, Harebrained Schemes also funded the development of the board game Golem Arcana through Kickstarter. Released in August 2014, Golem Arcana uses a physical game board and miniatures, supported by a mobile app that manages fog of war, the game's rules, and gameplay events. The board and app communicate using a Bluetooth stylus.[1][12][13][14] The Kickstarter for Golem Arcana raised just over $500,000.[15] In 2014 the studio also announced that they were developing Necropolis, an action-roguelike set for release in 2016. A pre-Alpha version of the game was featured at the 2015 PAX East conference.[16][17]

In mid-2015, the studio announced that they were preparing to hold a fourth Kickstarter to fund a new game in the BattleTech franchise, set to be titled Battletech.[18] There had been speculation that the studio would create a game in either the BattleTech or Crimson Skies franchise, owing to Weisman's role in the creation of those franchises.[3][4] The Kickstarter campaign for Battletech was launched on September 29, 2015. Like Shadowrun: Hong Kong, Harebrained Schemes already allocated funding for Battletech, and the intention of the Kickstarter was to raise funds for additional features.[19] The major goals for the Kickstarter were a single player campaign if $1 million was raised, an expanded campaign if $1.85 million was raised, and multiplayer if $2.5 million was raised.[20] The Kickstarter's initial goal was $250,000, which it reached in under an hour.[21]

In 2018 Paradox Interactive acquired Harebrained Schemes for US$7,500,000.[22][23]

In October 2023, Paradox Interactive announced that The Lamplighters League was a commercial disappointment and that significant layoffs had taken place at Harebrained Schemes prior to the completion of the game.[24] Following the tepid performance of The Lamplighters League, Harebrained Schemes and Paradox Interactive announced that they had reached a mutual agreement to go their separate ways, which allowed Harebrained Schemes to regain their independence from January 1, 2024 onwards.[25]

• Official website