In mid-summer, Ubisoft conducted mass layoffs in its Barcelona division. Now it has come to light that its former employees did not remain idle and have launched their own independent studio.
Puzzle Mage
In a conversation with GamesIndustry, Miles Kerwin, head of Dark Ritual Studios, shared that working at Ubisoft revealed to him how challenging it is to maintain flexibility and agility in large organizations when developing games. Therefore, the new studio plans to adhere to an indie format.
“At Dark Ritual Studios, we’ve chosen the opposite approach — we have a small, experienced team with clearly defined areas of creative responsibility, rapid decision-making, and a focus on quality rather than scale,” explained Kerwin.
The debut project of Dark Ritual Studios will be a dark fantasy setting game called Puzzle Mage. It is expected to be released on PC in 2027.
According to Kerwin, Puzzle Mage recently surpassed the milestone of one thousand wishlists on Steam, proving that “the game’s concept resonates with the audience.” It has also attracted the interest of investors. Dark Ritual Studios has already secured funding for further development of Puzzle Mage, though the amount remains undisclosed. As Kerwin emphasized, for now, the studio does not intend to seek additional funds and is considering self-publishing the game.