Firefly, the team behind the acclaimed Stronghold series, has taken its first steps into the world of publishing by unveiling a new label dedicated to strategy games, called Wuselfaktory. The debut title for the imprint, Fool King, was showcased at UKIE’s For One Night Only event earlier this year. Fool King comes from Loot Donkey, a newcomer to development, and bills itself as a tactical autobattler with roguelike elements: players assemble and position their forces, then watch the combat unfold automatically.
Studio head Nick Tannahill told GamesIndustry.biz that moving into publishing feels "like every other indie studio doing it right now," but he believes Firefly’s deep experience with strategy gives it a unique edge. The label joins a field already dominated by veterans such as Paradox Interactive and newer entrants like Hooded Horse, yet Firefly is aiming for a modest slate of releases rather than an aggressive expansion. For Fool King, Firefly is providing the funding and marketing muscle, while its parent company Devolver is contributing a producer to oversee localisation and quality assurance.
Tannahill says that as the publishing operation matures, those responsibilities will shift in‑house to Firefly’s own 50‑person team. "We already have a small publishing crew, which is why we can do this," he explained. The studio has been self‑publishing since 2010, meaning it already runs its own localisation pipelines, marketing campaigns, and relationships with platform holders.
More importantly, Firefly has spent decades crafting strategy titles, so it can also lend development assistance. "One of the real benefits a publisher can bring is that you’ve been on the other side of negotiations and you can actually help with dev‑related tasks," Tannahill noted. Firefly is actively supporting Fool King’s online component, an asynchronous autobattler mode. The team offers regular calls to discuss technical issues, provides UI consulting, and delivers multiple rounds of feedback on the core game.
While these interactions take time away from Firefly’s own projects, Tannahill believes a brief, focused conversation can accelerate the partner’s progress dramatically. The decision to start publishing came at Devolver’s suggestion.
After being acquired in late 2021, Firefly was encouraged to leverage its strategy expertise because Devolver felt less comfortable in that niche. "They said, ‘You know strategy, we don’t, so why not lead that effort?’" Tannahill recalled. The studio keeps a constant eye on emerging strategy titles, which helped it discover Fool King through a Rock Paper Shotgun article. Tannahill also spends time playing small indie strategy games on Steam and itch.io to keep his creative instincts sharp.
"I play a lot of tiny titles for inspiration for Stronghold," he said. "When I see something I love, I think about how we could help the creators with funding, guidance, or partnerships." Devolver trusts Firefly to handle both sourcing and marketing because the latter lacks deep knowledge of the strategy landscape. "They know we have better connections with press, content creators, and the various sub‑communities," Tannahill explained.
In a genre where the audience expects the publisher to speak its language, those relationships are crucial. Firefly maintains close contact with its community by embedding short surveys in every demo. Players are asked how much they would pay, which features they want, and what future games they’d like to see. The studio receives roughly 6,000 responses per survey, providing a solid data set that informs both development and marketing decisions.
The data has revealed a surprisingly young player base. "Our audience skews younger than we anticipated—lots of 18‑ to 25‑year‑olds," Tannahill said.
To reach them, Firefly focuses on the social platforms where this demographic hangs out, aiming to draw fresh eyes to its IPs and to the broader strategy genre. Tannahill sees strategy as a massive, yet under‑served, category on Steam.
He points out that many of the top‑wishlisted games are strategy titles, even though classic franchises like Command and Conquer have faded from the spotlight. "The IP isn’t resonating because new games haven’t been made, not because the brand is dead," he argued. He believes the genre’s quiet success makes it a safe bet amid the volatility of other markets such as Roblox or console gaming. "It’s not sexy any more, but it’s quietly one of the most successful genres on Steam," he said.
Deep, systems‑driven games appeal to players who enjoy long PC sessions, experimenting with emergent gameplay—a niche that studios like Hooded Horse have recently tapped. Firefly’s own development portfolio reflects this diversity.
The team creates 2.5D isometric titles reminiscent of early Command and Conquer or Age of Empires, as well as fully 3D projects like Stronghold 4. While the retro‑style is currently fashionable, Tannahill cautions against putting all eggs in one basket.
"You want to diversify, but you also don’t want to over‑extend," he noted. Wuselfaktory currently has only Fool King in its catalogue, but the label could grow to include a few more small‑scale projects.
Since the Devolver acquisition, Firefly has shipped four games and six expansions, with more in the pipeline. 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 release three big titles at once—we can only spin so many plates," Tannahill said. "We’ll start with smaller games, work in tight teams, and keep it sustainable."