Runner Duck was founded in December 2016 as an independent games development studio by former AAA, casual and mobile game developers Dave Miller and Jon Wingrove.[3] The founders had previously worked on popular games such as Race Driver: Grid,[4] Colin McRae: DiRT 2,[5] and the Buzz! series.[6][3] The two founders previously worked together at mobile game development company, and started Runner Duck because they hated working there, and disliked the Free-to-play model.[7]
Runner Duck released their first game, Bomber Crew in October 2017, published by Curve Games.[8]
In 2018, Runner Duck won the MCV/Develop Award for "Best New Studio".[9]
In March 2019, Curve Games parent company Catalis Group acquired Runner Duck with the aim of continuing the "crew" franchise with Curve Games as the publisher.[2][1]
In June 2025, Curve Games, including its subsidiaries Runner Duck and Iron Oak, was acquired by Nazara Technologies.[10]
In a Steam post on the Badlands Crew Discussion forum, a developer from Runner Duck confirmed they have become fully independent again.[11]
