Pretty Cool Games has been launched by two veterans of the hit title Human : Fall Flat – Sitara Shefta, who will serve as chief executive officer, and Will Dudley, taking on the role of chief creative officer. Their shared ambition is to build a studio that operates on sustainable principles, treats its staff fairly and shares the financial rewards of success with the whole team.
Shefta brings a wealth of experience to the venture. She previously ran No Brakes Games Tenerife as CEO and studio head, where she oversaw the development of Human : Fall Flat. In addition to her industry work, she has recently been elected to the board of directors at TIGA and sits on the BAFTA Games Committee, giving her a broad perspective on both creative and business aspects of game development.
Dudley, the studio’s CCO, was one of the original members of the Human : Fall Flat team. His résumé includes stints at major publishers and developers such as Sony Interactive Entertainment, Lionhead Studios, Rare and Marmalade Game Studio, giving him a deep understanding of both large‑scale production pipelines and indie‑style agility.
To get the fully remote, UK‑based studio off the ground, Pretty Cool Games secured undisclosed capital from the Chinese developer Hypergryph, best known for the mobile RPG Arknights: Endfield. Shefta explains that while raising investment is currently challenging, the appetite for fresh, innovative games remains strong.
"From our very first conversation with Hypergryph, we clicked. They loved the concept for our debut title, they embraced our quirky vision and they’re developers themselves who want to support other developers. That alignment of enthusiasm made them the perfect partner," she told GamesIndustry.biz.
According to Shefta, the bulk of the funding will be poured into the studio’s inaugural game. The project draws creative inspiration from a variety of sources: the playful spirit of Nintendo classics, the cooperative storytelling of Hazelight’s Split Citizen, the immersive world‑building found in Disney theme parks, and the physical comedy of classic films such as The Pink Panther.
Shefta says the team aims to craft an experience that stays with players for years: "We want something memorable, timeless and so much fun that you recall it with delight long after you first played it." Creativity is positioned as a core pillar of the studio’s philosophy, both for the developers and for the players. The upcoming title will grant players a high degree of freedom, leveraging physics‑based gameplay and level‑design systems that encourage unexpected, humorous outcomes. "We’re building a game that lets players express themselves through play, combining the sandbox freedom of a physics game with carefully crafted scenarios that spark wild, emergent moments," Shefta added. The investment also enables Pretty Cool Games to assemble a small, focused team that can be sustained over the long term.
Currently the studio employs four full‑time staff members and plans to grow to ten. Upcoming hires include lead design, level design, environment art and concept art roles, with future contracts slated for QA, character art, audio, UI and a composer. "We keep the core team lean, ambitious yet realistic about scope," Shefta notes.
"We’re also building a studio that rewards its people – for example through share‑ownership schemes – so that when our games succeed, everyone benefits." Shefta’s vision is to blend the best practices of AAA development with the agility of a smaller indie team. "Working in AAA taught me discipline around quality and what makes an IP successful," she reflects.
"Those massive budgets often lead to wasteful decisions and make recouping costs a nightmare. Indie development, by contrast, can be faster, more efficient and more experimental. By focusing on one or two strong ideas we can create something special without the overhead of a blockbuster." Being part of a tight‑knit team also means each member has a larger influence on the final product, which Shefta finds creatively fulfilling.
The ultimate goal, she says, is to put the player experience and employee wellbeing at the forefront of everything the studio does. "There will always be challenges when launching a new studio, but we’ll lean on the experience we’ve accumulated over the years and stay true to our commitment to build games the right way," she concludes. In summary, Pretty Cool Games is a newly formed, fully remote UK studio founded by seasoned Human : Fall Flat alumni.
Backed by Hypergryph, the studio is set to develop a physics‑driven, humor‑infused title that draws from a rich tapestry of influences, while pioneering a sustainable, employee‑centric business model that aims to share success with its creators.