An new Indie focused publisher called Three Friends has been founded by veterans from Coffee Stain Studios (part of the Coffee Stain & Friends branch of Embracer Group) and Mojang, the studio behind the gaming phenomenon known as Minecraft.
As reported by Game Developer, The four co-founders, Albert Säfström, Daniel Kaplan, Sebastian Badylak, and Johan Hermeren want to “employ a publishing model built on three key principles: get in early, build it right; pick the right battles; and guidance, not control.”
The publisher intends to have a focus on Nordic based Indie games, in particular ones being developed in Sweden, where they are situated. The intention, as their planned business model suggests, is to not only provide financial backing to smaller developers, but also provide assistance backed by their collected decades of experience. “We work closely with developers to create an environment where ideas can mature without drifting off course,” said Säfström, “helping teams focus their efforts and make the most of their time and resources.”
“Some of the best indie games-like Valheim and Deep Rock Galactic-took the time to refine their core gameplay before scaling up,” said co-founder David Kaplan. “That’s why we partner with developers early, helping them figure out what makes their game special so they can double down on what works.”
The games Kaplan mentioned were not chosen at random; they are a couple of the big hit games that Coffee Stain Games have been involved in, as well as titles like Satisfactory (which one PC Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2024) and Goat Simulator. When you add Minecraft to the list, I can imagine a great number of Indie developers who would love to have Three Friends in their corner.
There is only one thing that perplexes me about this new publisher: if there were four founding members, why is it called Three Friends? Is one of the members secretly a ghost, or did they just forget to count themselves when filling out the paperwork? These are the questions that demand answers, and you can be sure that the hard working team at Gamer Social Club are going to get those answers!
Three Friends will start unveiling its publishing slate in spring 2025.
Are you excited to see what Three Friends has in store for 2025? Let us know in the comments below!
