 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2010; 15 years ago (2010) |
| Founder | Brad Hendricks |
| Headquarters | , US |
Number of locations | 4 |
Key people | Brad Hendricks (CEO) |
| Products | BioShock: The Collection |
Number of employees | 120 (2020) |
| Parent | Blind Squirrel Entertainment (2016–present) |
| Subsidiaries | Blind Squirrel Games Colombia |
| Website | blindsquirrelentertainment |
Blind Squirrel Games is an Americanvideo game developer based inIrvine, California. Secondary studios are located inAustin, Texas,Auckland, New Zealand, andManizales, Colombia. It was founded in 2010 by Brad Hendricks. Currently a subsidiary of Blind Squirrel Entertainment, it mainly assists on development of other video games while also developing their own properties or licensed games.
Brad Hendricks founded Blind Squirrel Games in 2010. While working on theback end for the websiteGameSpy, he felt there had been too fewwork-for-hire studios working with larger companies onAAA video games and established the studio in this capacity. The company originally consisted of four people, including Hendricks aschief executive officer.[1] In March 2016, Blind Squirrel Games was reorganized as asubsidiary of Blind Squirrel Entertainment, which was incorporated inDelaware.[2]
By the time Blind Squirrel Games worked with2K Games onBioShock: The Collection, the studio had grown to 87 people, covering development, design, production, andquality 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 raisedUS$5 million from undisclosed investors for the development and self-publishing ofDrifters. 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 betweenUS$1 million andUS$2 million from thePaycheck Protection Program July 2020.[7] During theCOVID-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 inAustin, Texas, with thirty to forty people in late 2020, next to itsSanta Ana, California, headquarters.[1]
In January 2025, Blind Squirrel Games acquired Colombian studio Distributed Development and renamed it to Blind Squirrel Games Colombia to facilitate external development.[9]
{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)GIbiz: balancing4 was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).GIbiz: balancing5 was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help){{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)GIbiz: balancing3 was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).