Firefly, best known for its Stronghold series, has taken its next step into publishing by unveiling a new label dedicated to strategy games, called Wuselfaktory. The debut title under this banner is Fool King, a tactical autobattler with roguelike elements created by the newcomer studio Loot Donkey.
The game challenges players to assemble and position their forces before the combat resolves automatically, offering a blend of strategic planning and the unpredictability typical of roguelikes. Nick Tannahill, the head of Firefly, told GamesIndustry.biz that the decision to become a publisher mirrors what many indie studios are doing right now. He believes that Firefly’s long‑standing expertise in the strategy genre gives it a distinct advantage in a category that consistently ranks among the most profitable on PC platforms. While heavyweight publishers such as Paradox Interactive and the newer Hooded Horse have already proven the viability of a strategy‑centric catalogue, Wuselfaktory intends to operate on a more modest scale, both in terms of the number of releases and the scope of each project.
For Fool King, Firefly is providing financial backing and marketing support, while its parent company Devolver has assigned a producer to oversee localisation and quality assurance. Tannahill noted that the studio plans to internalise these latter responsibilities in the future, leveraging its existing 50‑person team.
"We already have a small publishing unit, which is why we can take on this role," he explained. Firefly’s publishing journey is built on a foundation of self‑publishing experience that dates back to 2010. Over the years the studio has refined workflows for localisation, marketing, and distribution, and it maintains strong relationships with platform holders such as Steam.
More importantly, having spent decades crafting strategy titles, Firefly can also extend development assistance to its partners. "One of the real benefits a publisher can bring is that we’ve been on the other side of negotiations and relationships, and we can also help with actual development tasks," Tannahill said. In the case of Fool King, Firefly has been actively involved in several aspects of the game’s creation. The studio runs three online titles of its own, giving it a solid grasp of multiplayer and asynchronous mechanics, which are central to Fool King’s design.
Firefly’s team has conducted regular calls with Loot Donkey to discuss online features, offered UI consultation, and delivered multiple rounds of feedback on the core gameplay loop. While such hands‑on support does divert resources from internal projects, Tannahill argues that a brief, focused conversation can dramatically accelerate a partner’s development timeline and improve the final product. The move into publishing was encouraged by Devolver, which recognized its own limited experience in the strategy segment.
"We were acquired by Devolver in late 2021, and they basically said, ‘You know strategy better than we do—why don’t you fill that gap?’" Tannahill recalled. The studio’s constant monitoring of upcoming strategy releases also positioned it well to spot promising indie projects. In fact, Tannahill discovered Fool King after reading a feature on Rock Paper Shotgun, illustrating how closely he follows the niche.
Playing smaller titles on platforms like Steam and Itch.io serves another purpose for Tannahill: it fuels inspiration for future Stronghold installments. "I dive into tiny games to refresh my brain and harvest ideas for new entries in the series," he said. This habit also revealed a potential market for under‑served developers. "When I see games I love, I think about how they could benefit from funding, guidance, or partnerships," Tannahill added.
Devolver trusts Firefly to handle both the sourcing of new titles and the associated marketing because the parent company admits it lacks deep connections within the strategy community. Firefly’s network includes press contacts, content creators, and the various sub‑genre communities that populate Steam.
Tannahill stresses that speaking the language of strategy fans is essential, noting that the studio even embeds surveys into its demo builds to gather direct player feedback. "We ask how much they’d pay, which features they want, and what games they’d like us to make next," he explained. The response rate averages around 6,000 answers per demo, providing a robust data set for decision‑making.
Analysis of that data revealed an unexpectedly youthful demographic for strategy games. While the genre is often associated with older, hardcore players, Firefly’s audience skews heavily toward the 18‑25 age bracket.
To reach this cohort, the studio focuses on the social platforms where younger gamers congregate, aiming to funnel them into its intellectual property and broader ecosystem. Tannahill views the strategy space as both massive and under‑exploited. He points out that many of the most wish‑listed titles on Steam are strategy games, yet classic franchises such as Command & Conquer receive little new development.
"It’s not that the IP isn’t resonating; it’s that there haven’t been fresh entries," he observed. This gap presents an opportunity, especially as other high‑profile genres encounter market headwinds.
"Strategy isn’t flashy, but it quietly dominates Steam’s sales," he said, contrasting it with the rapid growth of platforms like Roblox and the current challenges facing console gaming. The appeal of deep, systems‑driven experiences lies in their capacity to keep players engaged for hours, experimenting with variations of the same scenario and discovering emergent gameplay.
This appetite has attracted newcomers like Hooded Horse, who recently entered the market after recognizing the size of the audience for high‑quality strategy titles. Within Firefly itself, the team is spreading its bets across multiple sub‑genres. It continues to develop traditional 2.5D isometric games reminiscent of early Command & Conquer and Age of Empires, while also working on fully 3D projects such as Stronghold 4. The resurgence of pixel‑perfect isometric graphics is currently fashionable, but Tannahill cautions against over‑committing to any single trend.
"You want a diversified basket without too many eggs in one slot," he remarked. Wuselfaktory’s launch currently represents a single, modest venture—Fool King—but the label aims to add a few more titles over time. Since joining Devolver, Firefly has released four games and six expansions, with additional projects in the pipeline. Third‑party publishing will be part of the long‑term plan, but it must be balanced against the studio’s capacity.
"We won’t announce a label and then flood the market with three fully baked games; we can only spin so many plates," Tannahill concluded. "We’ll start with smaller releases, work in compact teams, and keep the operation sustainable—that’s the priority."