Hey, Alex Oxspring here. Studio Director at Stupendium Softworks.
I wanted to write a bit about how we approach making games. What we’re trying to build, and what we feel we owe you when you choose to spend your time and money with us.
I’ve been making games professionally for over a decade now. Before that, I started when I was about twelve. Games have been my way of telling stories for over twenty years.
In that time, I’ve watched a slow shift in the industry toward safer, more sanitised experiences. Games built to sell as widely as possible by sticking close to what already works.
And right now, things are a bit rough out there. A lot of short-term thinking. A lot of treating games like products to optimise, instead of creative work that’s meant to resonate with people.
With Stupendium Softworks, we wanted to do something different.
A studio that puts creativity first and gives its silly little freaks the space to be… well, a little freaky.
We want to keep our games small, strange, and most importantly sustainable.
I want to build something where my friends and I can keep making games for the rest of our lives without constantly chasing growth for the sake of it. That pressure has burned a lot of studios, and we’re not interested in going that way.
We want to build something smart, simple and ultimately sustainable.
So, what do we think we owe you?
First, we don’t think players owe us their time… if anything, it’s the other way around!
Every time you buy one of our games, you’re taking a chance on us. You’re trusting that what we’ve made is worth your time, your attention, your curiosity.
We want to make games that feel like multifaceted gemstones.
We want to reward curiosity and take you on journeys that you’ll remember.
Games I’ve directed, like Polyarmory and OnlyCans, come from that mindset – on the surface, they’re ridiculously absurd ideas. But underneath, they’re packed with little details, interactions, and emotional moments for people who dig deeper.
We think games can be silly, strange, and fun, and still have something real to say.
Some of the best moments come from that tonal whiplash… and if you’ve played either of those games I mentioned, you’ll understand completely.
Ultimately, we see players as more than just an audience. They’re participants in the experiences that we’ve crafted for them. You are the ones who explore and peel back the layers we’ve crafted. Seeing you experience our games for the first time is an absolute joy, and watching you figure out what we’re trying to say is a huge part of what makes game development and storytelling so worth it.
That’s what we owe you.
Something worth your time, that rewards your curiosity, and that gives something back.
And if that sounds like your kind of thing, we’d love to have you along for what comes next.
We’ve got such sights to show you…
