Curve Games has announced a publishing partnership with the independent studio Wayfinder Studios for the upcoming online cooperative role‑playing game Wyldheart. This collaboration marks a significant step for both companies as they aim to bring a fresh, community‑focused experience to the crowded RPG market. Stuart Dinsey, the chief executive officer of Curve Games, explained that the firm is actively seeking to invest in bold, distinctive titles and to support talented indie developers.
He described Wyldheart as a perfect illustration of the direction Curve wants to pursue, emphasizing that the game’s unique blend of cooperative play and immersive world‑building aligns with the publisher’s strategic goals. "We are looking to make ambitious investments in distinctive games and talented independent studios, and Wyldheart is a great example of where we want Curve to go next," Dinsey said.
The partnership is also the latest milestone in Curve Games’ post‑acquisition roadmap. After being bought by Nazara Technologies in May of the previous year for £21.7 million, Curve has been charting a path toward expanding its portfolio with titles that offer both creative ambition and commercial potential. The Wyldheart deal fits neatly into that plan, providing Curve with a high‑profile indie project while giving Wayfinder a seasoned publishing partner to help scale the game’s reach.
Wayfinder Studios, based in Sweden, was founded in 2020 by a group of veterans from EA DICE. The founding team includes former creative director Dennis Brännvall, former studio director Fia Tjernberg, and other DICE alumni such as Manne Ederyd and Adam Clark. Their collective experience in large‑scale AAA development informs the studio’s vision for Wyldheart, but they deliberately chose to pursue a different design philosophy—one that prioritizes player agency, community interaction, and innovative gameplay loops over the formulaic expectations often found in mainstream titles. Wyldheart has already generated considerable interest ahead of its full release.
On Steam, the game has accumulated more than 375,000 wishlists, indicating a strong base of eager players. Additionally, the studio successfully raised €248,000 through a Kickstarter campaign, demonstrating both community support and confidence in the project’s concept.
This early enthusiasm has been a key factor in attracting a publishing partner capable of amplifying the game’s visibility and delivering the necessary resources for a successful launch. Dennis Brännvall, Wayfinder’s creative lead, expressed gratitude for the positive reception and highlighted the importance of finding the right publishing ally.
"We've been incredibly fortunate with the response to Wyldheart so far, and finding the right partner to help us build on that momentum was really important to us," he said. Brännvall went on to praise Curve Games for their quick grasp of Wayfinder’s vision. "What stood out about Curve was how quickly they understood what we're trying to make, who we're making it for, and the kind of studio we want Wayfinder to be.
We're excited to have them alongside us as we take Wyldheart into its next chapter." Fia Tjernberg, the studio’s director, previously explained to GamesIndustry.biz that Wayfinder deliberately chose a genre that has not seen as much innovation as the team would like. She noted that many AAA titles tend to cater to a fanbase that prefers familiar experiences over experimental ones.
"Pretty much all of us have worked at AAA, where the fanbase doesn't really want innovation. They want familiar, they want what they are used to from other games," she remarked. This insight drove Wayfinder to craft a game that blends familiar RPG mechanics with fresh, community‑driven features. One of the core concepts behind Wyldheart is the idea of persistent worlds that can be hosted on private servers.
Rather than supporting massive shards populated by thousands of players, Wayfinder envisions intimate, self‑contained communities where a small group can shape the world together. Brännvall likened this approach to having a personal Minecraft or Valheim server, but with the deeper narrative and role‑playing elements typical of an RPG.
"We are interested in persistent worlds and MMOs, but with private servers, where it's just you and your community enjoying this. It's not a massive thing with 10,000 people on a shard; it's your own personal Minecraft or Valheim server, game‑structure wise," he explained. The decision to focus on private server experiences aligns with a broader industry trend toward player‑owned spaces and modifiable environments.
By giving players control over their own servers, Wayfinder hopes to foster long‑term engagement, emergent storytelling, and a sense of ownership that is often missing from larger, more impersonal MMOs. This model also allows the developers to iterate based on direct community feedback, ensuring that updates and expansions reflect the desires of the core player base. From a technical standpoint, building a robust, scalable server architecture that supports both stability and customization is a significant undertaking. Wayfinder’s team is leveraging their AAA background to implement high‑quality networking code, efficient world streaming, and tools that enable server administrators to tweak gameplay parameters without needing deep technical expertise.
This focus on accessibility aims to lower the barrier for smaller groups to host their own instances, thereby expanding the game’s reach beyond traditional publishing channels. Looking ahead, the partnership with Curve Games will provide Wayfinder with resources for marketing, distribution, and post‑launch support.
Curve’s experience in navigating console and PC marketplaces, as well as its connections with global distribution networks, should help Wyldheart reach a wider audience. Moreover, the financial backing from Nazara Technologies gives Curve the flexibility to invest in community events, live‑ops content, and ongoing development that can keep the game fresh over the long term. In summary, the collaboration between Curve Games and Wayfinder Studios represents a convergence of indie creativity and seasoned publishing expertise.
With a strong foundation built on experienced developers, a clear vision for community‑centric gameplay, and a growing base of eager fans, Wyldheart is poised to make a notable impact in the online co‑op RPG space. The partnership not only promises to deliver a compelling game experience but also sets a precedent for how independent studios can partner with larger publishers to bring innovative, player‑focused titles to market.