Firefly, the developer best known for the Stronghold series, has taken its next step into publishing by unveiling a new label dedicated to strategy games, called Wuselfaktory. The label’s debut title, Fool King, was showcased at UKIE’s For One Night Only event earlier this year. Fool King comes from first‑time studio Loot Donkey and bills itself as a “tactical autobattler” with a roguelike twist: players assemble and position their forces, then sit back as the combat resolves automatically. Nick Tannahill, the head of Firefly, told GamesIndustry.biz that moving into publishing is “something every indie studio is considering these days,” but he believes Firefly’s long‑standing expertise in strategy gives it a unique advantage.
The strategy space on PC has long been dominated by veterans such as Paradox Interactive and newer entrants like Hooded Horse, yet Firefly plans to operate on a smaller scale, both in terms of the size of each project and the total number of releases. For Fool King, Firefly is providing the development funding and handling the marketing push, while its parent company Devolver has assigned a producer to oversee localisation and quality assurance. Tannahill noted that the studio intends to bring those localisation and QA responsibilities in‑house as its team of roughly fifty staff members grows. “We already have a tiny publishing unit, which is why we can do this,” he explained.
Firefly’s publishing know‑how is built on a decade of self‑publishing experience dating back to 2010. Over the years the studio has refined its pipelines for localisation, marketing, and platform relationships, and it has cultivated strong ties with the communities that flock to strategy titles. Moreover, having built and supported strategy games for many years, Firefly can also lend development assistance to the studios it publishes. “Being a publisher as a developer means you’ve sat on the other side of negotiations and you understand the challenges developers face,” Tannahill said.
“We can step in with concrete development support, not just business advice.” He gave the example of Fool King’s online component—a turn‑based asynchronous battler—where Firefly’s team held calls with Loot Donkey to discuss networking, UI design, and overall gameplay balance. “A single hour‑long conversation can shave weeks off a schedule and smooth out many rough edges,” he added. The decision to launch a publishing arm was encouraged by Devolver, which recognized its own limited experience in the strategy niche. “We were acquired by Devolver in late 2021,” Tannahill recalled.
“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 helped it spot promising projects; in fact, Tannahill discovered Fool King after reading a Rock Paper Shotgun article. Tannahill spends a lot of personal time playing small‑scale strategy titles on Steam, Itch.io, and other platforms to keep his creative well full.
“I love digging into tiny games for inspiration for Stronghold,” he said. “When I see a gem that could benefit from funding, guidance, or a partnership, I think about how we could help.” Devolver is comfortable letting Firefly run both the scouting and the marketing side of things because the latter lacks deep knowledge of the strategy ecosystem. “They trust us to know which press outlets, content creators, and community hubs matter for each sub‑genre,” Tannahill explained.
That familiarity is crucial; strategy fans often speak a distinct language and expect a certain level of depth and transparency from developers. To stay close to its audience, Firefly embeds short surveys into every demo it releases. Players are asked how much they’d be willing to pay, which features they’d like to see, and what future games they’d enjoy. “We get about 6,000 responses per demo, which gives us a solid data set,” Tannahill said.
The feedback has revealed a surprisingly young demographic: a sizable portion of their community falls between 18 and 25 years old. “We meet them where they hang out—on the right social platforms—to keep feeding them new IP and fresh experiences,” he added.
Tannahill believes the strategy genre is both massive and under‑served. “If you scan the top‑hundred wish‑listed games on Steam, many are strategy titles,” he observed. Yet classic franchises such as Command and Conquer have faded from mainstream awareness, not because the brand lacks appeal, but because few new entries have been produced. He sees this as a fertile opportunity, especially as other high‑profile genres encounter headwinds.
“It’s not the flashiest genre any more, but it quietly dominates Steam’s sales,” he said. “While Roblox keeps expanding and consoles face challenges, Steam remains a strong home for deep, systems‑driven games that reward players who can sit at a PC for hours, experimenting with emergent tactics.” He noted that studios like Hooded Horse have recently discovered just how large the appetite is for high‑quality strategy experiences. Firefly itself is spreading its bets across the strategy spectrum.
In addition to publishing, the studio continues to develop 2.5‑D isometric titles reminiscent of early Command and Conquer or Age of Empires, as well as fully 3D projects like Stronghold 4. The resurgence of pixel‑perfect isometric graphics is evident, but Tannahill cautions against putting all of the company’s eggs in one basket. “We want a diversified portfolio so we’re not overly exposed to a single style or platform,” he said.
At present, Wuselfaktory’s catalog consists of a single title—Fool King—but the team hopes to add a few more modest releases over time. Since the Devolver acquisition, Firefly has shipped four games and six expansions, with additional projects in development. Third‑party publishing will be part of the long‑term plan, but it must fit within the studio’s limited capacity. “We won’t announce a label and then flood the market with three big launches at once,” Tannahill warned.
“We’ll start with smaller projects, work in lean teams, and keep the operation sustainable.”