Pretty Cool Games was founded by two veterans of the hit title Human : Fall Flat – Sitara Shefta, who now serves as chief executive officer, and Will Dudley, the chief creative officer. Their shared ambition is to construct a studio that not only produces entertaining experiences but also treats its staff fairly and shares the rewards of success with them.
Shefta’s résumé includes a stint as CEO and studio head of No Brakes Games Tenerife, where she oversaw the creation of Human : Fall Flat. In addition to her industry experience, she has recently been appointed to the board of the UK Interactive Entertainment Association (TIGA) and sits on the BAFTA Games Committee, giving her a voice in shaping policy for the broader games community. Dudley, on the other hand, was an original member of the Human : Fall Flat development team.
His career spans several high‑profile publishers and studios, including Sony Interactive Entertainment, Lionhead Studios, Rare, and Marmalade Game Studio, giving him a deep well of production knowledge to draw from. To get the new, fully remote UK operation off the ground, Pretty Cool Games secured an undisclosed investment from Hypergryph, the Chinese developer best known for the mobile RPG Arknights: Endfield.
Shefta explained to GamesIndustry.biz that raising capital is currently challenging, but the appetite for fresh, inventive games remains strong. She added that the initial conversations with Hypergryph clicked immediately: the investor loved the concept for the studio’s debut title, embraced the founders’ whimsical vision, and appreciated that Hypergryph, as a fellow game‑making company, was eager to support other developers.
According to Shefta, the bulk of the funding will be poured into the studio’s first game, a project that draws creative inspiration from a wide range of sources. The team cites Nintendo’s knack for timeless design, Hazelight’s narrative‑driven co‑op experiences (the makers of *It Takes Two*), the immersive storytelling found in Disney theme parks, and the physical comedy of classic films such as *The Pink Panther*.
The goal, she says, is to craft something that players will remember fondly for years after they first play it. "We want to create something memorable, timeless and so much fun that you remember it with delight years after you first played it," Shefta emphasised. "We are leaning into creativity as a pillar of our studio, and that applies to our players as well.
We are developing a game that will allow players to be creative and express themselves through play. This partly comes from the freedom granted to players in a physics game, combined with our systems and level design allowing for all sorts of wild and unexpected scenarios." The investment also enables Pretty Cool Games to assemble a small, focused team that Shefta hopes will remain sustainable over the long haul. At present the studio employs four full‑time staff members, and they plan to grow to ten. Immediate hires include a lead designer, a level designer, an environment artist, and a concept artist.
Future contracts will bring on quality‑assurance testers, character artists, audio engineers, UI specialists, and a composer. Shefta stresses that keeping the core team lean allows the studio to be ambitious while staying realistic about scope.
"We are keeping the core team small, being ambitious but practical in terms of scope," she said. "We are also trying to build a studio that is sustainable by being fair to our employees.
We've recently seen a lot of layoffs across the industry that don't align with the success of the games those same developers have made – we are trying to build something that rewards our team for success, for instance through share schemes, so if our games are successful we all benefit together." Her vision is to blend the best practices of AAA development – rigorous quality standards, polished presentation, and a deep understanding of what makes an intellectual property thrive – with the agility and experimental spirit of a small indie team. "Working in AAA taught me to be disciplined about quality and how important it is to consider what makes an IP successful," she reflected.
"These games often have such huge budgets which I've seen lead to wasteful decisions and also make recoup incredibly challenging – which can be unsustainable. Indie development can be much faster and more efficient, embracing experimentation and then focusing on what feels good, running with one or two key ideas then allows you to make something special." She also notes that a smaller team means each individual has a larger impact on the final product, which is personally rewarding for creatives.
"Being part of a smaller team means that everyone has more of an influence on shaping the game and that's more meaningful to us as creatives too," she added. Ultimately, Shefta’s ambition for Pretty Cool Games is to put player enjoyment and employee wellbeing at the forefront of every decision. "Our goal is to build a studio that puts our player's experience and our employees wellbeing first," she said.
"There will always be challenges when you launch a new studio, but we will rely on the significant experience and knowledge we've built over the years, and stay strong on our commitment to build games in the right way." The studio is actively seeking additional investment and a publishing partner to bring its debut title to market, hoping that the combination of seasoned leadership, a clear creative direction, and a supportive backer will enable them to deliver a game that stands out in a crowded market while fostering a healthy, long‑term workplace for its team.