Hooded Horse

In the last 12 months, our games have sold over 4.5 million copies across all stores and been added to Steam wishlists over 8.5 million times. I can't express how lucky we feel to serve as publisher for so many amazing developers. ...and this is almost the same thing I announced end of last year, same copies sold, just this time it was 8.5 million wishlists instead of 9.5 million. But there is a significant change here. Last year, our numbers were heavily driven by Manor Lords -- it represented about 60% of our copies sold and about 40% of our wishlist additions. This year, no one game accounts for more than 18% of our copies sold or more than 12% of our wishlist additions. I firmly believe a publisher shows their value in consistent performance across games. Publishers exist to serve developers, to provide as much risk spreading and general uplift as is possible, and they should be judged on how well they are providing their service by median performance, not the outlier hits. If I go to the analytics site Gamalytic, which estimates Steam sales, and filter to companies with 20+ games released, and sort by median revenue per game, we are estimated as the 8th highest publisher -- of course we are absolutely trounced in average and total revenue in that sea of billion dollar AAA publishers. 🙃 Our outliers are much less outlier, but we are delivering a consistency of performance to the indie devs who trust us to serve as their publisher that punches well above our weight, and given that over half of our games are in Early Access and their sales journey just beginning, that median is only going to climb higher with time. So last year we were the "Manor Lords publisher", this year I think we're something more. But we're still so damn lucky Greg trusted us to publish Manor Lords. 😄

We're welcoming another project to the Hooded Horse family today: Hero's Hour 2. Combining the tactical depth of turn-based strategy with the fast pace of real-time combat, this RPG brings a fresh design philosophy to a classic genre -- all with a healthy dose of charm and chaos. The original Hero's Hour was a love letter to turn-based strategy created by solo dev Benjamin Hauer. For the sequel, he's recruited a small team to help him build on the Hero's Hour vision. This will be a joint venture between Benjamin, Lautaro Ariño, and indie dev Unleash the Giraffe. We are so thrilled to serve as the publisher for Hero's Hour 2, and can't wait to help this incredible team make the sequel the best it can be. https://lnkd.in/evUXKN5W

The release of Whiskerwood last month brings Hooded Horse to 8 early access launches, 1 1.0 launch, and 1 console launch for the year, with an average user review score of 88% across all titles. Suffice to say, we are incredibly fortunate to be working with so many talented studios, crafting experiences that players will be enjoying for years to come. While the entire Hooded Horse team have contributed to a fantastic year, I wanted to give a shoutout to our three Release Managers: Blossom Kremer, Natalia Montero, & Aneta Zagórska. You've really helped elevate us as a publisher with your deep knowledge of the various platforms, your impeccable organization, and your unmatched work ethic. Here's to the tons of new Hooded Horse releases arriving in 2026!

I've seen a lot of people argue that right now lack of discoverability is a fundamental problem for PC games, but I disagree. There is no platform that matches Steam's excellent discovery system. I say this not just in relation to games, but also in comparison to streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon, nothing comes close. If I go on the Steam homepage right now, the top section is showing me a mix of top sellers and games based on the tags I play. Scroll down and I'm seeing category pages allowing me to view specific genres of choice. I'm seeing the "recommended based on the games you play" section which is hyperfocussed to my niche interests and features many small indies (though I imagine if I only played AAA shooters I'd have that tailored accordingly, Steam knows what I like). I'm seeing a "because you played Rimworld" section which is giving me a selection of colony sims and city builders to suit my tastes. And this is how the entire platform is, on and on if I scroll further down or navigate elsewhere, everything is designed to help me discover games. There are tons of problems facing the games industry right now, and a lot of human cost. But if looking to chart the best course forward, we should begin with recognizing where the problems are and where they aren't, or we won't find effective solutions. Some people complain about the number of games released or wish for some kind of guaranteed exposure, but store platforms should welcome all entrants and let player preferences guide visibility. Sustainability comes from taking hard, early looks at games and the reality of the market size they will reach compared to their costs, when viewed from likely scenarios rather than extreme optimism. In the end, if we want stability we have to make sure a given game's budget is such that 'success' in the sense of costs being covered and the team continuing on to the next game is achieved with moderate sales based on a cautious estimation of its likely reach with players. And that does mean that some games should not be made, at least at their planned budgets. But once a project passes that initial hurdle, we need to then recognize that risk always remains and ensure stability for development studios is baked into contractual structures. Publishers should not be taking 100% of the revenue of games under recoup terms that guarantee them break-even at the expense of developers. Publishers have a diversified portfolio and can afford to spread risk, while developers need to have strong cashflow from their game even if it means publishers taking a loss on this or that project and making it back on the ones that did better. Likewise, corporate owners need to not shut down studios because they didn't make the line go up to match expectations, indeed, large corporate entities that can absorb risk should expect some losses to be balanced out by other gains, and that the team that had a loss this time might generate tomorrow's hit.

Today, another game joins the Hooded Horse family. We've just announced Substructure: a factory automation game created by Dubious Design. Substructure puts you on a rogue alien planet, where you're part of a hastily-prepared expedition team. You must explore the planet and exploit its resources through complex, multi-level production chains that expand deep beneath the planet's surface. We're big fans of the factory genre, and are so thrilled that the Dubious team has trusted us to serve as their publisher for Substructure.

I’ve been following Hooded Horse’s rise as an indie strategy game publisher for a while, so I was excited to talk with their President and CFO, Snow (Xue) Rui, about her career journey for the next post in my career profile series. Snow is a powerhouse leader—overseeing the business, financial, and operational aspects of the company—but what you might not know is her journey there. Her transition from a niche profession in tax law into games publishing shows that your skills aren’t just more adaptable than you think—they can become a real differentiator in unexpected places. As she says: “Don’t underestimate how transferable your skills can be. I chose a very narrow path early on and thought, ‘This is my life now.’…and I was totally wrong. Even though I’m not the one making the games, I’m able to help those games be successful and allow the developers to focus on doing what they do best.” For anyone who’s ever wondered if a second (or third, fourth...) career is possible—her story shows that it is. Your stack of experiences builds on itself over time and becomes your differentiator. Check out the full interview on Substack on her approach to scaling slowly by design, using her business & legal expertise to support creatives, and how her motivation shifted from mastery to impact over time. https://lnkd.in/gikKXqbz

We're thrilled to now be serving as publisher for Overhype Studios and Acid Wizard Studio on their earlier titles! We've had so much fun working with them for MENACE and Darkwood 2, so now even more chances to work with great people.

Today, we welcome two incredible games to the Hooded Horse portfolio: Battle Brothers from Overhype Studios, and Darkwood 1 from Acid Wizard Studio. We’ve enjoyed working with these amazing teams to publish MENACE and Darkwood 2, and we’re thrilled they're now trusting us to also assist in publishing their beloved earlier games. Both these games are legendary in the player community. Several members of the Hooded Horse team played (and loved) these games when they first launched, and we can’t quite believe that we’re getting the opportunity to serve as their publisher all these years later.

Another studio has officially joined the Hooded Horse family. We're partnering with 6 Eyes Studio to publish Pathbreakers: Roaming Blades! Pathbreakers: Roaming Blades is a turn-based tactical RPG set in a medieval fantasy world. You lead a company of mercenaries as you explore, trade, and engage in brutal combat. We're so excited to be part of this project.

We’re excited to share that MENACE has now passed 500,000 wishlists on Steam. Congratulations to Overhype Studios GmbH on their incredible work as they build towards Early Access next year, after a great demo launch!