Failbetter Games

Failbetter Games is a British video game developer and interactive fiction studio based in London.

Failbetter Games Ltd.
TypePrivate
IndustryVideo games
FoundedOctober 2009 (2009-10)
FoundersAlexis Kennedy
Paul Arendt
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Key people
Chris Gardiner
Emily Short
Adam Myers
Hannah Flynn
ProductsFallen London
Sunless Sea
Sunless Skies
Number of employees
12
Websitewww.failbettergames.com

History

Founded in 2009 by Alexis Kennedy and Paul Arendt, Failbetter is chiefly known for its Fallen London Victorian Gothic franchise (comprising, to date, the Fallen London and Silver Tree browser games and the Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies and Mask of the Rose video games), which has garnered a cult following.[1] Failbetter was also commissioned by BioWare to build a browser-game prologue for Dragon Age: Inquisition,[2] and by UK publisher Harvill Secker to create a puzzle game to accompany The Night Circus.[3][4] The studio has consistently won acclaim for the quality of its writing, world-building and storytelling.[5][6]

In 2016, Alexis Kennedy left Failbetter, citing a desire to work with a variety of other studios and work on his own smaller, more experimental projects.[7]

In February 2017, Failbetter ran a successful Kickstarter for a sequel to Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, raising almost half a million dollars. However, December that same year Failbetter unexpectedly laid off four members of staff, citing the under-performance of the Sunless Sea iPad port, and poor sales of their Sunless Skies in early access.[8][9]

Failbetter was subsequently the target of an extensive but inconclusive investigative report by Eurogamer, which cited Kennedy and other unnamed staff in claiming poor management and a 'toxic' culture had developed since Kennedy's departure.[10]

Failbetter are currently developing a new romantic visual novel set in the Fallen London universe called Mask of the Rose, which is a prequel to the other games in the franchise.[11]

Games developed
Year Title Platform(s)
2009 Fallen London Android, Browser, iOS
2012 Tales of Fallen London: The Silver Tree Browser
2014 Dragon Age: The Last Court
2015 Sunless Sea iOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, OS X, PlayStation 4
2019 Sunless Skies Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
2023 Mask of the Rose Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows

References
  1. "How a cult-hit browser game spawned the dark world of 'Sunless Sea'". www.theverge.com.
  2. "The Last Court". PC Games N.
  3. O'Hara, Jan (September 9, 2011). "Author Interview at Writer Unboxed (Part II)". Writer Unboxed. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  4. Khan, Yasmeen (September 1, 2011). "The Night Circus". Failbetter Games. Archived from the original on December 22, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2012.
  5. "Best Words of 2014". Rock Paper Shotgun.
  6. "The City and the Sea". Eurogamer.
  7. Brendan Sinclair. "Alexis Kennedy leaving Failbetter Games".
  8. Alice O'Connor. "Failbetter lay off a few staff and delay Sunless Skies". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  9. Tom Phillips (2018-02-14). "Behind the sunless scenes". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  10. Tom Phillips (2018-02-14). "Behind the sunless scenes". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2023-08-24.
  11. Frech, Ricky (December 2, 2020). "Failbetter Games Announce Next Game in the Fallen London Universe". Dualshockers. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
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