Iron Galaxy Studios, LLC is an Americanvideo game developer studio based inChicago, Illinois, with additional studios inOrlando, Florida, andNashville, Tennessee. Iron Galaxy often collaborates with publishers and developers to provide "technical consulting",port games to different platforms, co-development, lead development, and support.[2]
Iron Galaxy is most known for its lead development ofRumbleverse andKiller Instinct (2013 video game) Seasons 2 & 3, as well as its port work for PC and console games.
Iron Galaxy was founded by Dave Lang in 2008 as a work-for-hire support and technical consulting studio.[3][1] Lang had worked for Midway Games for several years before using his contacts at Capcom to get work porting games likeBionic Commando andDark Void.[4]
In 2011, Microsoft approached Iron Galaxy to pitch an original game for theKinect. The company developed a concept where the player uses motion controls to destroy castles, similar toAngry Birds. Iron Galaxy releasedWreckateer, its first original property, in July 2012.[6]
In 2013, Iron Galaxy teamed up with One True Game Studios to release the parody fighting gameDivekick on PlayStation 3, Vita, and Windows.[7] A second studio in Orlando was opened to assist with development.[8] An updated version of the game, calledDivekick: Addition Edition, launched on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.[9][5]
Iron Galaxy worked on the Windows port ofBatman: Arkham Origins. Upon release in 2013, the PC version suffered from numerous bugs and performance issues.[10] After some initial fixes were released,Warner Bros. Games announced in February 2014 that it would not be addressing many of the game's lingering problems.[11]
In 2015, Iron Galaxy returned to work on the PC port forBatman: Arkham Knight. However, this version of the game was plagued by serious performance issues. Just days after release, WB pulled the game from sale.[10][12] Reports indicated that Warner Bros. knew the bad state of the game and chose to ship it anyway. Rocksteady, developer of the console versions, worked to fix the PC port's issues.[13][14] After four months,Arkham Knight was put back on sale in October.[15]
Iron Galaxy was initially in the running to work on the 2013 reboot ofKiller Instinct. According to Lang, they made it to the final round but were ultimately passed over due to their commitment onWreckateer.[16] However, following Amazon's purchase ofDouble Helix Games in 2014, Microsoft hired Iron Galaxy as the new ongoing developer forKiller Instinct.[17][18]
Under Iron Galaxy, season 2 was released in October 2014[19] and season 3 in March 2016.[20] A 10th anniversary update was also released in 2023 that added 4K support, updated balancing, and improved matchmaking.[21]
In 2015, Iron Galaxy also expanded into publishing under its own label. It releasedCapsule Force in 2015 andTim Roger'sVideoball in 2016.[23] However, the initiative ultimately failed and a third game,Gunsport, took several more years to complete.[24]
In July 2016,Adam Boyes became CEO of Iron Galaxy, replacing co-founder Dave Lang, who remained on to oversee prototypes and business development. The company had 130 employees at the time.[1]
In June 2017, Iron Galaxy announcedExtinction, its first full-priced game, published byMaximum Games.[25] The game was released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 10, 2018.[26][27] Chelsea Blasko was elevated to Co-CEO in October 2020.[28]
Following the release of the Nintendo Switch, Iron Galaxy managed to find a niche for porting high-profile titles to the console. The studio worked with Bethesda to portThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in 2017.[29] In 2018, it worked with Blizzard to releaseDiablo III on the Switch. The port took just nine months to develop[30] and received positive reviews from critics.[31][32]
In December 2021, the company unveiledRumbleverse, a wrestling-themed, free-to-play battle royale game.Epic Games would be serving as publisher with a February 2022 release. Iron Galaxy pitched the game in 2017 and took three years to fully develop it. By this point, the company had 230 employees with 80 people working onRumbleverse.[37][38] However, by January 2022, the game was delayed indefinitely, though playtests continued.[39]
It wasn't until July that the game received a new release date.[40]Rumbleverse was released in August 2022,[41] but never saw the success it needed to survive. By January 2023, Iron Galaxy announced the game would shut down the following month—six months after launch. Those who paid for in-game currency or the Battle Pass would be eligible for a refund. A version for the Nintendo Switch was in the works at the time.[42] Despite some initial hype, the game ultimately suffered due to competition from similar games, limited multiplayer modes, its exclusivity to theEpic Games Store, and a lack of interest from the streaming community. In the end, the game couldn't generate the revenue it needed to stay afloat.[43]
Despite the high-profile failure ofRumbleverse, Iron Galaxy was able to avoid layoffs by reassigning developers and reconnecting with work-for-hire clients, like Naughty Dog.[44] It handled the PC port for theUncharted: Legacy of Thieves collection in 2022.[45] Iron Galaxy then worked on the 2023 PC port ofThe Last of Us Part 1.[46] Initially expected to release on March 3, it was delayed three weeks until March 23.[47] The game proved to be in rough shape upon release.[48] Iron Galaxy will return to work on the port ofThe Last of Us Part II.[49]
In 2022, Iron Galaxy opened a new studio in Nashville, Tennessee.[50] By April 2024, it moved to a bigger space.[51] Plans for a new studio in Austin were announced but later delayed following theRumbleverse shutdown.[44]
Boyes stepped down from his position as co-CEO in August 2024 and Blasko remained as the company's sole CEO.[52] In February 2025, Iron Galaxy announced it would lay off 66 developers and support staff as a "means of last resort" for the company to stay afloat.[53]
