Party games, like Human: Fall Flat, have seen something of a resurgence in popularity in recent years, and, building on that success, Sitara Shefta and Will Dudley have officially announced Pretty Cool Games, a new, fully remote indie studio based in the UK. The studio is promising a new IP and has reportedly secured funding from Coreblazer, the investment arm of HyperGryph, the Shanghai-based studio responsible for Arknights.

Pretty Cool Games is supposedly already working on a new IP, and according to comments from HyperGryph's head of investment, Clare Yang, it has already shown off prototypes to the studio. Pretty Cool describes its first game as a double-A, physics-based game with a gameplay-first philosophy. While a launch date has yet to be set, the studio is prototyping and iterating rapidly in order to test ideas in-game, focusing on "player expression" to drive fun and engagement.

The as-yet-unnamed new game takes inspiration from Nintendo, Split Fiction dev Hazelight, the immersive fun of Disney theme parks, and physical comedy films like The Pink Panther.

Sitara SheftaWe want to create something memorable, timeless, and so much fun that you remember it with delight years after you first played it.

The studio acknowledges that the gaming industry is in a tough spot right now, noting specifically that raising investment funding is particularly challenging, but that "that doesn't mean the demand for fresh new games has reduced."

Pretty Cool Games describes itself on its website as:

Everything we do is fantastically playful and we are serious about fun, from development at Pretty Cool to the game in players' hands.

We're driven by creativity and quality, making highly entertaining PC & Console games as a small but mighty team.

Whilst we're a relatively new studio, our team is incredibly experienced having led and developed multiple smash-hit and award-winning titles over the years.

As a fully-remote UK based studio, we're able to work with the best (and nicest!) people wherever they might live.