Breaking the Mold: SteamWorld's Brjánn Sigurgeirsson on Embracing Genre Diversity

The SteamWorld series has consistently defied genre conventions with each new release, a deliberate choice driven by the company's past experiences as a work-for-hire studio. According to Brjánn Sigurgeirsson, co-founder of Image & Form and Thunderful group, this fear of repetition stems from the company's history of developing 60 titles in the Josefine Skolehjelp series over six years. Sigurgeirsson expressed his concerns, stating, 'We were terrified of making the same type of game over and over again.' The 2015 release of SteamWorld Heist marked a turning point, as it introduced turn-based combat to the series and granted the company the freedom to explore different genres. With the success of SteamWorld Heist, the studio gained the confidence to create a diverse range of games within the SteamWorld universe, including SteamWorld Quest, a card-based RPG, and SteamWorld Build, a city-building experience. Today, the franchise boasts six games across five genres, with three more titles in development. Sigurgeirsson emphasized the importance of continuing to produce high-quality games, saying, 'All we need to continue to do is to make good games in the series.' Despite this optimism, the company remains cautious, as evidenced by the recent financial results, which showed that sales of SteamWorld Build 'fell slightly short of expectations.' The company attributes this to the game's genre not appealing to its target audience and not being well-suited for the Switch console. As Thunderful undergoes a restructure, expected to result in a 20% workforce reduction, the company remains committed to its vision of creating a diverse and lasting franchise.