Sickhead Games
American video game developer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sickhead Games, LLC is an American independent video game developer based in Dallas, Texas. The studio was founded in October 2002 by Tom Spilman and Russell Fincher and specializes in porting, remastering, and co-developing games for consoles and PC, in addition to producing its own original titles. Titles it has ported or co-developed include Darkest Dungeon, Stardew Valley, Celeste, and Slay the Spire.
| |
| Type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | October 2002 |
| Founders | |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products |
|
Number of employees | 5–10 |
| Website | www |
Sickhead's early work centered on the Torque engine before the studio shifted its focus to MonoGame, an open-source framework it has helped steward while also developing its own original games. It released its first original title, ARMED!, in 2013, and the following year began porting console versions of independently developed games, starting with TowerFall Ascension and Octodad: Dadliest Catch. Over the following decade, the studio ported dozens of independent titles to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile platforms, while also producing HD remasters of older console and PC games such as Grandia and ExZeus.
Alongside its ports and remasters, Sickhead continues to release original and licensed titles, including Space Invaders Deck Commander (2024) and the Jaleco Sports Series (2025–present), a line of revived classic NES, SNES, and Famicom sports games.
History
Sickhead Games was founded in Dallas, Texas, in October 2002 by Tom Spilman and Russell Fincher. In its early years the studio worked with the Torque series of game engines, later shifting its focus to MonoGame, an open-source framework that lowered the barrier for indie developers bringing their games to consoles.[1]
In 2013, the studio released its first original title, ARMED!, a multiplatform turn-based strategy game for mobile devices and Windows. The following year, Sickhead began porting indie games to PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, and Xbox One, starting with TowerFall Ascension[2] and Octodad: Dadliest Catch.[3]
The studio went on to port several further indie titles, including Darkest Dungeon,[4] Stardew Valley,[5] Axiom Verge,[6][7] and Slay the Spire, with support later expanding to Nintendo Switch and mobile platforms.
Alongside its ports of contemporary indie games, Sickhead has updated classic console and PC games from the 1980s through the early 2000s to run on modern systems, including ExZeus, Enclave, and Grandia. The studio released Space Invaders Deck Commander in 2024 with Rock It Games and Taito,[8] and began reviving classic NES, SNES, and Famicom Jaleco sports titles the following year.
MonoGame
Co-founder Tom Spilman has served as one of the framework's project leads and sits on the board of the MonoGame Foundation.[9] After Sony and the MonoGame team connected in 2013, Sickhead was brought on to help move the arena-combat game TowerFall from the Ouya to PlayStation 4 as TowerFall Ascension. That project led to further porting contracts for numerous other MonoGame- and XNA-based indie titles.[10][11]
Games developed
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | ARMED! | Mobile, Windows | Sickhead Games |
| 2015 | Be the Astronaut[12] | Windows | Eureka Exhibits |
| 2024 | Space Invaders Deck Commander[8] | PlayStation, Xbox One/X/S, Nintendo Switch, Windows | Rock It Games / Taito |
| 2025 | Jaleco Sports Series | Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 | Rock It Games / Jaleco |
Ports
| Title | Release date | Platform | Developer / Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| TowerFall Ascension | March 11, 2014 | PlayStation 4 | Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd |
| December 15, 2015 | PlayStation Vita | ||
| January 24, 2017 | Xbox One | ||
| Dust: An Elysian Tail | October 7, 2014[13] | PlayStation 4 | Humble Hearts |
| Escape Goat 2 | October 21, 2014[14] | PlayStation 4 | MagicalTimeBean |
| Ironclad Tactics | January 20, 2015[15] | PlayStation 4 | Zachtronics Industries |
| Apotheon | February 3, 2015[16] | PlayStation 4 | Alientrap |
| TowerFall Dark World Expansion | May 12, 2015 | PlayStation 4 | Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd |
| January 25, 2017 | Xbox One | ||
| Octodad: Dadliest Catch | May 19, 2015 | PlayStation Vita | Young Horses, Inc |
| Skulls of the Shogun: Bone-a-Fide Edition | June 2, 2015 | PlayStation 4 | 17-Bit |
| July 11, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Axiom Verge | April 19, 2016 | PlayStation Vita | Thomas Happ Games |
| September 29, 2016 | Xbox One | ||
| October 5, 2017[17] | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Score Rush Extended | May 31, 2016 | PlayStation 4 | Xona Games |
| Darkest Dungeon | September 28, 2016 | PlayStation 4 | Red Hook Studios |
| September 28, 2016 | PlayStation Vita | ||
| Stardew Valley[18] | July 29, 2016[19] | Mac OS X | ConcernedApe |
| July 29, 2016[19] | Linux | ||
| December 13, 2016 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| May 22, 2018[20] | PlayStation Vita | ||
| December 13, 2016 | Xbox One | ||
| October 5, 2017[21] | Nintendo Switch | ||
| December 25, 2025 | Nintendo Switch 2 | ||
| Salt and Sanctuary | March 28, 2017[22] | PlayStation Vita[23] | Ska Studios |
| CRYPTARK | June 27, 2017 | PlayStation 4 | Alientrap |
| Tooth and Tail | September 12, 2017 | PlayStation 4 | Pocketwatch Games |
| Celeste[24] | January 25, 2018 | PlayStation 4 | Maddy Makes Games, Inc, Extremely OK, Ltd |
| January 25, 2018[24] | Xbox One | ||
| January 25, 2018[25] | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Mercenary Kings: Reloaded | February 6, 2018 | Xbox One | Tribute Games |
| February 6, 2018 | PlayStation Vita | ||
| TowerFall | September 27, 2018[26] | Nintendo Switch | Maddy Makes Games |
| Chasm[27] | July 31, 2018[28] | PlayStation Vita | Bit Kid, Inc. |
| October 11, 2018[29] | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Slay the Spire | May 21, 2019 | PlayStation 4 | MegaCrit / Humble Games |
| June 6, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| August 13, 2019 | Xbox One | ||
| June 13, 2020 | iOS | ||
| February 3, 2021 | Android | ||
| Eagle Island | July 11, 2019[30] | Nintendo Switch | Pixelnicks / Retroware |
| Grandia HD Collection | August 16, 2019[31] | Nintendo Switch | Game Arts |
| March 6, 2024[32] | PlayStation 4 | ||
| March 6, 2024 | Xbox One | ||
| Grandia HD Remaster | October 15, 2019 | Windows | Game Arts |
| Grandia II HD Remaster | October 15, 2019 | Windows | Game Arts |
| Monaco: Complete Edition | October 21, 2019[33] | Nintendo Switch | Pocketwatch Games |
| Door Kickers: Action Squad | October 23, 2019 | Xbox One | KillHouse Games |
| October 24, 2019 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| October 28, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Real Heroes: Firefighter | November 27, 2019 | Nintendo Switch | Epicenter Studios / Golem Entertainment |
| March 10, 2020 | PlayStation 4 | Epicenter Studios / 612 Entertainment, LLC | |
| March 30, 2022 | Xbox One | Epicenter Studios / Ziggurat Interactive | |
| Ikenfell | October 8, 2020 | Xbox One | Happy Ray Games / Humble Games |
| October 8, 2020 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| October 8, 2020 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Unrailed! | September 23, 2020 | Xbox One | Indoor Astronaut / Daedalic Entertainment |
| September 23, 2020 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Wildfire | December 3, 2020 | Xbox One | Sneaky Bastards / Humble Games |
| December 3, 2020 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| December 3, 2020 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Mundaun | March 15, 2021 | Xbox One | MWM Interactive |
| March 15, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Heavy Burger | April 27, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | Lub Blub, International Headquarters / G-MODE, 612 Entertainment |
| Eagle Island Twist | May 28, 2021 | Nintendo Switch[34] | Pixelnicks / Retroware |
| May 28, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| May 28, 2021 | Xbox One | ||
| Axiom Verge 2 | August 11, 2021 | PlayStation 4 | Thomas Happ Games |
| ExZeus: The Complete Collection | September 30, 2021[35] | Xbox One | HyperDevBox, Sickhead Games / Ziggurat Interactive |
| September 30, 2021[35] | PlayStation 4 | ||
| September 30, 2021[35] | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Fae Tactics | November 17, 2021 | Xbox One | Endlessfluff Games / Humble Games |
| November 17, 2021 | Windows | ||
| Prodeus | September 23, 2022 | Windows | Bounding Box Software / Humble Games |
| September 23, 2022 | Xbox One | ||
| September 23, 2022 | Xbox Series X/S | ||
| September 23, 2022 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| September 23, 2022 | PlayStation 5 | ||
| October 28, 2022 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Space Engineers | May 11, 2023 | PlayStation 4 | Keen Software House |
| Enclave HD | June 29, 2023[36] | Nintendo Switch | Starbreeze Studios / Ziggurat Interactive |
| June 29, 2023 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| June 29, 2023 | Xbox One | ||
| Until Then | June 25, 2024 | PlayStation 5 | Polychroma Games / Maximum Games |
| Real Heroes: Firefighter HD | December 6, 2024[37] | PlayStation 5 | Epicenter Studios / Ziggurat Interactive |
| Jaleco Sports: GOAL![38] | June 26, 2025 | Windows | Jaleco, Sickhead Games / Rock It Games |
| November 20, 2025 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| April 2, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| Jaleco Sports: Bases Loaded | April 15, 2025 | Windows | |
| November 20, 2025 | Nintendo Switch | ||
| November 20, 2025 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Jaleco Sports: GOAL! 2[39] | April 2, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | |
| April 2, 2026 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Jaleco Sports: Bases Loaded 2[40] | April 2, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | |
| April 2, 2026 | PlayStation 4 | ||
| Tamashika | April 21, 2026 | Nintendo Switch | QuickTequila / EDGLRD |
| April 21, 2026 | Xbox One | ||
| April 21, 2026 | Xbox Series X/S | ||
| April 21, 2026 | Windows Store | ||
| April 21, 2026 | PlayStation 5 | ||