Firefly, the team behind the Stronghold series, has taken its next step in the games industry by entering the publishing arena. The studio unveiled a new label, Wuselfaktory, dedicated to strategy titles, and introduced its first external project, Fool King, during the UKIE "For One Night Only" showcase earlier this year.
Fool King, created by the newcomer studio Loot Donkey, markets itself as a tactical autobattler with roguelike elements: players assemble and position their forces, then watch automated battles unfold. Nick Tannahill, the head of Firefly, acknowledges that many indie studios are now wearing both developer and publisher hats. "It's a path many indie teams are taking right now," he told GamesIndustry.biz.
Yet he believes Firefly's long‑standing expertise in strategy gives it a distinct edge in a genre that consistently ranks among the most lucrative on PC. Wuselfaktory joins a field already populated by veterans such as Paradox Interactive and newer entrants like Hooded Horse, but Firefly intends to operate on a more modest scale, both in terms of the number of releases and the breadth of each project.
For the debut title, Firefly is providing funding and marketing support, while its parent company Devolver has assigned a producer to oversee localisation and quality assurance. Tannahill notes that, moving forward, the studio plans to bring those localisation and QA responsibilities in‑house, leveraging its existing 50‑person team. "We already have a small publishing crew, which is why this is feasible for us," he explained. The studio's publishing know‑how is built on a decade of self‑publishing experience.
"Since 2010 we've handled our own localisation pipelines, marketing campaigns, and release processes. We also have solid relationships with platform holders," Tannahill said. More importantly, Firefly's history of crafting strategy games means it can offer hands‑on development assistance as well. "A publisher that also develops can give practical advice beyond just business negotiations," Tannahill added.
"We run three online titles, and Fool King includes an asynchronous multiplayer component. Our team can sit down with theirs, discuss UI design, run playtests, and provide iterative feedback on the core game." He admits that offering this level of support consumes time that could be spent on internal projects, but argues that a brief, focused conversation can accelerate an external team's progress dramatically.
"An hour of guidance can shave weeks off a schedule and smooth out potential pitfalls," he said. The decision to launch a publishing arm was encouraged by Devolver, which recognised its own limited experience in the strategy niche. "We were acquired by Devolver in late 2021," Tannahill recalled.
"They basically said, 'You understand strategy inside out; we don't. Why not fill that gap?'" Firefly's constant monitoring of emerging strategy games positioned it well to spot promising indie titles. In fact, Tannahill discovered Fool King after reading a feature on Rock Paper Shotgun. "I play a lot of smaller Steam and itch.io titles to keep my creative juices flowing for Stronghold," he said.
"When I see a game I like, I think about how we could help it with funding, mentorship, or partnership opportunities." Devolver is comfortable handing over both sourcing and marketing duties to Firefly because the latter knows the strategy community better. "Devolver admits they aren't deeply plugged into the strategy scene, so they trust us to handle press outreach, influencer relations, and community engagement across the various sub‑genres," Tannahill explained. He stresses that speaking the language of strategy fans is essential.
To stay close to its audience, Firefly embeds short surveys into every demo it releases, asking players how much they'd be willing to pay, which features they desire, and what future games they'd like to see. "We get around 6,000 responses per survey, which gives us a solid data set," Tannahill said. The feedback has revealed a surprisingly youthful demographic: a substantial portion of their players are aged 18‑25.
"We meet them where they are—on the social platforms they frequent—to keep drawing fresh eyes to our IPs and studio," he noted. Tannahill believes the strategy genre is both vast and under‑served. "If you scan the top wish‑listed games on Steam, a huge chunk are strategy titles," he observed. Yet classic franchises like Command & Conquer have faded from mainstream awareness, not because the brand lacks appeal, but because few new entries have been produced.
He sees this as an opening for studios willing to invest in high‑quality, systems‑driven experiences. "Strategy isn’t the flashiest genre any more, but it quietly dominates Steam's sales," he said. "While Roblox balloons and console sales plateau, Steam remains a strong platform for deep, replayable games that reward players who can sit at a PC for hours, experimenting with emergent tactics. That's why companies like Hooded Horse are discovering a massive, eager audience for premium strategy titles." Firefly itself is diversifying within the genre: it publishes, creates retro‑style 2.5D isometric games reminiscent of early Command & Conquer and Age of Empires, and develops fully 3D experiences such as Stronghold 4.
"The 2.5D pixel‑art aesthetic is popular right now, but trends shift. We don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket," Tannahill cautioned. Wuselfaktory currently represents a single small “egg” in the form of Fool King, with the potential to add a few more titles over time. Since joining Devolver, Firefly has shipped four games and six expansions, with additional projects in the pipeline.
Third‑party publishing will be part of the long‑term plan, but the studio acknowledges it must fit these releases into its existing schedule. "We won’t announce a publishing label and then flood the market with three big releases at once—we can only spin so many plates," Tannahill said. "Initially we’ll focus on smaller projects that our lean teams can support sustainably.
This balance is crucial for our continued success."