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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2009; 17 years ago (2009) |
| Founders |
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| Headquarters | , Sweden |
Number of locations | 2 (2024) |
Key people |
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| Products |
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Number of employees | 162 (2024)[2] |
| Parent | ZeniMax Media(2010–present) |
| Website | machinegames.com |
MachineGames Sweden AB is a Swedishvideo game developer based inUppsala. The studio was founded in 2009 by seven former employees ofStarbreeze Studios, including founder Magnus Högdahl. After unsuccessfully pitching game ideas to severalpublishers, MachineGames agreed withBethesda Softworks to develop an entry in theWolfenstein series in July 2010 and was acquired by Bethesda's parent company,ZeniMax Media, in November. In theWolfenstein series, MachineGames developedThe New Order (2014),The Old Blood (2015),The New Colossus (2017),Youngblood (2019), andCyberpilot (2019). The studio also developedIndiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024) and is developing anotherWolfenstein game in addition to being creatively involved in a plannedWolfenstein live-action series forAmazon Prime Video.[3]
MachineGames' founding team—consisting of Kjell Emanuelsson, Jerk Gustafsson, Magnus Högdahl, Jim Kjellin, Fredrik Ljungdahl, Jens Matthies, and Michael Wynne—was previously employed by Swedish video game companyStarbreeze Studios, of which Högdahl was also the founder.[4] By mid-2009, while the team was working on the gameSyndicate, Starbreeze had grown to more than 100 employees, and the seven-piece team wanted to start anew.[4][5] All seven left the studio and set up MachineGames inUppsala, Sweden.[4] An alternative name considered for the company was "Tungsten".[5] Matthies became the company'screative director, while Gustafsson becamemanaging director andexecutive producer.[4][5] Högdahl and Wynne left shortly thereafter for personal reasons.[5] For the first one-and-a-half years, the MachineGames team brainstormed game ideas and pitched them to variouspublishers, includingBethesda Softworks, being rejected on all of them.[4][5] Running out of funds, the team considered either selling their homes to finance the studio further or closing down the studio entirely.[4]
Around this time, developerid Software and the rights to itsWolfenstein series of games were acquired by Bethesda's parent company,ZeniMax Media.[4] Following this acquisition, Bethesda offered MachineGames to work on one of itsintellectual properties, and when Matthies learned that no one was developing aWolfenstein game at the time, he requested that MachineGames could develop one.[4] Matthies, Gustafsson, and other MachineGames employees visited id Software inMesquite, Texas, in July 2010 to discuss this prospect.[4] Id Software was already impressed with the team's work while at Starbreeze and only requested that MachineGames use theirid Tech 5 engine for the endeavour.[4] By November, all necessary paperwork for MachineGames to develop aWolfenstein game was completed, and the studio became asubsidiary of ZeniMax to pursue development on what would later becomeWolfenstein: The New Order.[4] MachineGames was incorporated as ZeniMax Sweden AB, which was later changed to MachineGames Sweden AB.[6][7] After the acquisition, MachineGames resumed hiring.[5] According to Gustafsson, around 70% of the company's employees at the time came from Starbreeze.[5]
MachineGames developedWolfenstein: The New Order (2014) and its prequel,Wolfenstein: The Old Blood (2015).[8] In June 2016, they releasedDimension of the Past, a free episode for id Software's 1996 gameQuake, in celebration of the game's twentieth anniversary.[9] AtElectronic Entertainment Expo 2017,Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, a sequel toThe New Order, was announced with a release date of 27 October 2017 forMicrosoft Windows,PlayStation 4 andXbox One.[10] MachineGames developedWolfenstein: Youngblood, the follow-up toThe New Colossus with a focus onco-operative gameplay, andWolfenstein: Cyberpilot, avirtual reality game, both released in 2019.[11][12] MachineGames created a furtherQuake episode,Dimension of the Machine, for the game's re-release in 2021, as well asCall of the Machine forQuake II's re-release in 2023.[13][14]
Microsoft acquired ZeniMax in March 2021.[15][16] A thirdWolfenstein game has been in development since at least September 2018.[17] MachineGames announced in January 2021 that it was developing a game set in theIndiana Jones film franchise, which in January 2024 was revealed asIndiana Jones and the Great Circle.[18][19] In November 2023, the studio announced plans to open a satellite studio inSundsvall, Sweden; which is expected to be fully staffed in 2025.[20]
| Year | Title | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Wolfenstein: The New Order | PlayStation 3,PlayStation 4,Windows,Xbox 360,Xbox One |
| 2015 | Wolfenstein: The Old Blood | PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
| 2016 | Quake: Dimension of the Past | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4,PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One,Xbox Series X/S |
| 2017 | Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One |
| 2019 | Wolfenstein: Youngblood | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4,Stadia, Windows, Xbox One |
| Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot | PlayStation 4, Windows | |
| 2021 | Quake: Dimension of the Machine | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
| 2023 | Quake II: Call of the Machine | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
| 2024 | Doom: Legacy of Rust | Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S |
| Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Windows, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5,Nintendo Switch 2 |
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A subsidiary ofMicrosoft Gaming | |
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