Indie publisher North Beach Games is expanding its frontiers in Europe with the formation of a brand-new in-house development studio in Prague. Dubbed North Beach Games Prague, the new studio will allow the San Rafael, California-based publisher to develop games in-house.
North Beach Games has carved out a niche as a specialist in the survival crafting genre. It is best known for providing publishing services to 7 Days to Die. In July, the open world survival horror FPS made the jump to consoles and set a new concurrent player record on Steam.
On August 27, the team will launch Free Range Games’ Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. The title is part of a licensing agreement formed with Middle-earth Enterprises.
North Beach Games Prague sees the publisher returning to familiar waters. In 2015, the company co-published Stranded Deep. The new studio will bring Sam Edwards, the creator of Stranded Deep, in-house as its CTO. Together, he and Tomáš Pšenička, general manager of North Beach Games Prague, will lead the studio’s primarily Czech Republic-based team.
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“We’re super excited to be kicking off the development of Stranded Deep 2 with our new
development team, North Beach Games Prague,” said Edwards, creative director and
chief technology officer of North Beach Games. “Tomáš and his talented team will be a great partner to build out the studio as we look to the future of the franchise and explore new horizons.”
Naturally, the studio plans to tread in familiar waters with Stranded Deep 2. Details on the sequel are scarce, but players will still have to survive a plane crash. The original sold millions of copies and eventually made its way onto consoles and added multiplayer.
“We couldn’t be more excited to bring Sam and Tomáš into the North Beach Games fold,
heading up our new Prague development studio,” said John Miller, CEO of North Beach Games. “We’ve worked with both of them for years as partners, so to all be on the same team is a great feeling and will allow us to do even more exciting work together in the survival crafting space. After all of the volatility in the market and industry for the past year, the time feels right to start this next chapter of our business, carving our own path towards a positive future for our company.”
