MercurySteam

MercurySteam was formed in May 2002 by former members of Rebel Act Studios who had developed Severance: Blade of Darkness.^[2] Co-founder Enric Alvarez served as CEO and games director.^[3][4] The company's first game was American McGee Presents: Scrapland for Xbox and PlayStation 2.^[5]

When Konami decided to reboot the Castlevania series, MercurySteam successfully pitched a 3D action game that would become Lords of Shadow. The developers received assistance from Hideo Kojima.^[6] After the game released in 2010, additional downloadable content was released the following year.^[7][8] Toward the end of initial development, the company took on the work of developing a sequel for the Nintendo 3DS. MercurySteam chose to develop for the 3DS over the PlayStation Vita due to the former's stereoscopic technology. The company redeveloped its internal engine for the project.^[9] Initially expected out in 2012, it was delayed to the beginning of 2013.^[10] Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate ultimately allowed the 60-person company to stay in business between bigger projects.^[11]

Lords of Shadow sold better than expected and proved to be the best selling Castlevania game of all time. As a result, Konami requested a home console sequel, forcing MercurySteam to develop two games at once.^[11] Lords of Shadow - Mirror of Fate was released in early 2013. Lords of Shadow 2 was developed as an open world game set in a modern city, and would be the company's last in the series.^[12][13][14] It suffered from reported development issues before releasing in 2014.^{[5][11][15][16]} Art director José Luis Vaello left the company for Tequila Works during development.^[17] The studio's leadership denied any wrongdoing.^[18]

In 2016, the company self-published Raiders of the Broken Planet, a four-versus-one online shooter.^[5][19] Having left Konami after the release of Lords of Shadow 2, producer for the trilogy, Dave Cox, joined MercurySteam.^[20] The studio increased to 140 employees during development.^[21] It was initially conceived to be episodic, with a free tutorial and mission included. Paid campaign expansions were then offered.^[22][23] The game performed well on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but struggled on PC. A progression system was added with the game's third campaign, which helped improve attach rate. By August 2018, the game was relaunched as a free-to-play title called Spacelords.^[24] By this point, the game was maintained by a team of 100.^[25]

As early as 2015, it was reported that MercurySteam was working on a prototype for a new Metroid game.^[26] The company had pitched a remake of the 2002 game Metroid Fusion to Nintendo, but producer Yoshio Sakamoto had hired them to create a remake of Metroid II instead.^[27][28] Nintendo announced Metroid: Samus Returns at E3 2017, a remake of the 1991 Metroid II: Return of Samus on the Game Boy. It was developed in partnership with MercurySteam and was released for the Nintendo 3DS in September 2017.^[29][5]

The company once again collaborated with Sakamoto to develop Metroid Dread for the Nintendo Switch.^[30][31] Known as Project Cazadora during development, reports after launch described a chaotic work environment, including mismanagement during the COVID-19 pandemic and other toxic behavior. Nintendo performed an internal review of the project and found the company had massively overscoped for art and cinematics, leading to significant cuts in content.^[32] In December 2020, Nordisk Film, under its Nordisk Games division, purchased a 40% stake in the studio.^[33][34]

Releasing in October 2021, Metroid Dread debuted as the third best-selling game in the US and the highest-ranked selling game on the platform.^[35] MercurySteam came under fire for excluding staff members from the credits of Metroid Dread.^[36][32] A representative defended the decision to GameSpot, stating "We accredit all those who certify a minimum participation in a particular project—usually the vast majority of devs. We set the minimum at 25% of development time."^[37][38] The studio hinted years later that it had adjusted this policy to be more in line with International Game Developers Association recommendations.^[39] In a 2023 interview, studio head Enric Álvarez denied all wrongdoing against the company.^[40]

In December 2021, it released a remaster of Scrapland, the company's first game.^[41] 505 Games also announced it had partnered with MercurySteam to develop a third-person action RPG under the codename Project Iron.^[35] Blades of Fire was announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC (as an Epic Games Store exclusive) in February 2025.^[42] The game released in May, but was reported to have underperformed by July.^[43]

In September 2025, Spanish trade union CSVI-CGT accused the company of instituting mandatory overtime, including 10-hour days, a crackdown of internal communications, limiting vacation days for several months of the year, and eliminating remote work. Another group of employees denied these accusations.^[39] 3DJuegos reported that current and former employees of MercurySteam experienced a toxic work environment during the development of Blades of Fire, especially in early to mid-2025. These include forced 10-hour workdays and intimidation strategies.^[44][45]

In February 2026, it was announced that Blades of Fire would be released on Steam in May with additional features.^[46][47]