Firefly, the studio behind the acclaimed Stronghold series, has taken its next big step by entering the publishing arena. The company unveiled a brand‑new label, Wuselfaktory, dedicated exclusively to strategy games, and introduced its inaugural publishing project, Fool King, during UKIE’s For One Night Only showcase earlier this year. Fool King, created by the newcomer team Loot Donkey, bills itself as a “tactical autobattler” with a roguelike twist: players assemble and arrange their forces, then sit back as automated battles unfold.
Nick Tannahill, the head of Firefly, admits that the decision to become a publisher mirrors a broader trend among indie studios. “Right now every indie developer is looking at publishing as a natural extension of what they already do,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.
What sets Firefly apart, however, is its deep‑rooted expertise in the strategy niche. The label aims to compete in a space that has long been dominated by veterans such as Paradox Interactive and newer entrants like Hooded Horse, but Firefly’s ambitions are more modest in terms of scale and the number of releases. For Fool King, Firefly is providing both financial backing and marketing support, while its parent company Devolver has assigned a producer to oversee localisation and quality assurance.
Tannahill notes that the studio plans to internalise those latter responsibilities in the future, leveraging its existing 50‑person team. “We already have a small publishing unit, which is why we can pull this off,” he explains. The studio’s publishing know‑how is built on a decade of self‑publishing experience dating back to 2010.
Over the years Firefly has refined workflows for localisation, marketing, and platform relations, and it has cultivated strong ties with the digital storefronts it works with. More importantly, the company has spent decades crafting strategy titles, giving it the ability to provide hands‑on development assistance as well.
“Being a publisher isn’t just about negotiating deals,” Tannahill says. “Because we’ve been on the other side of the table, we can also help developers with actual game‑making tasks.” In practice, Firefly has been offering Loot Donkey guidance on user‑interface design, multiple rounds of feedback on core gameplay, and technical support for the game’s asynchronous online component. While these consultations take time away from Firefly’s own projects, the team believes a single hour of focused discussion can dramatically accelerate a partner’s development timeline.
Firefly’s foray into publishing was encouraged by Devolver, which recognised its own limited experience in the lucrative strategy market. “We were acquired by Devolver in late 2021,” Tannahill recalls. “They basically said, ‘You know strategy inside out; we don’t, so why don’t you lead that effort?’” The studio’s constant monitoring of upcoming strategy releases also positioned it well to spot promising indie titles. In fact, Tannahill discovered Fool King after reading a feature on Rock Paper Shotgun.
Playing smaller strategy experiments is a habit for Tannahill, who says he regularly dives into indie releases on Steam, itch.io, and other platforms to keep his creative juices flowing. “I love scouring tiny titles for inspiration for the Stronghold series,” he admits.
“When I see a game I enjoy, I think about how we could help it—whether through funding, mentorship, or partnership.” Devolver is comfortable handing over both sourcing and marketing responsibilities to Firefly, trusting its deeper connections within the strategy community. “Devolver isn’t as plugged into the strategy scene, so they rely on us to know which press outlets, content creators, and community hubs matter,” Tannahill explains. He adds that speaking the “language” of strategy fans is essential, given the genre’s often‑technical audience.
To stay close to players, Firefly embeds short surveys into every demo it releases. The questionnaires ask respondents how much they’d be willing to pay, which features they’d like to see, and what future games they’d love the studio to develop. “We’ve been doing this for three games now and we get about 6,000 answers each time,” Tannahill notes. The data has become a valuable compass for both development and marketing decisions.
One surprising insight from the surveys is the age profile of the strategy audience. “We expected a more mature crowd, but the numbers show a strong 18‑25 segment,” Tannahill says. The studio therefore tailors its outreach to the platforms that younger gamers frequent, hoping to draw fresh eyes to its IPs and to the broader strategy genre.
Tannahill believes the strategy space is massive yet still under‑served. He points out that a large portion of the most wish‑listed games on Steam belong to various strategy sub‑genres, from grand‑strategy to tactical auto‑battlers.
At the same time, classic titles such as Command and Conquer have faded from mainstream awareness, not because the brand lacks appeal, but because new entries have been scarce. “This is a golden opportunity,” he asserts. “Strategy isn’t the flashiest genre any more, but it quietly dominates Steam’s sales charts. While Roblox keeps expanding and consoles face challenges, Steam remains a strong home for deep, systems‑driven experiences that reward long play sessions and emergent gameplay.” He cites the recent success of Hooded Horse as evidence that there is a hungry audience for high‑quality, niche strategy games.
Firefly’s own development slate reflects a diversified approach within the genre. The studio continues to produce traditional 2.5‑D isometric titles reminiscent of early Command and Conquer or Age of Empires, while also working on fully 3D projects like Stronghold 4.
The resurgence of pixel‑perfect isometric aesthetics is evident, but Tannahill warns against putting all of the studio’s eggs in one basket. “We want to experiment across the strategy spectrum,” he says. “Publishing is just one more egg in the basket, and we’ll add a few more as we can manage.” Since joining Devolver, Firefly has released four games and six expansions, with additional projects in the pipeline.
Third‑party publishing will be a long‑term goal, but the team acknowledges they can only juggle a limited number of plates at once. “We won’t announce a publishing label and immediately have three titles ready to launch,” Tannahill cautions. “We’ll start with smaller projects, keep the workload sustainable, and grow from there."