Secret Mode is currently riding a wave of optimism. After parting ways with Sumo Digital—and its parent company Tencent—last year, the newly independent UK publisher has been moving at full throttle. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom, Chief Publishing Officer James Schall highlighted the "phenomenal growth" the company has experienced over the past eighteen months. He explained that the team initially drafted a strategic roadmap extending to 2030, only to smash those targets within roughly four months of implementation.
Schall noted that the split from Sumo was relatively straightforward, thanks in large part to financing from Emona Capital, and that Tencent proved to be "very helpful" throughout the transition. "I was stunned by how quickly the deal closed and how positive the whole process was for everyone involved," he said. From Tencent's perspective, the separation made sense as well.
After Tencent acquired Sumo in early 2022, the Chinese conglomerate began evaluating its sprawling portfolio of subsidiaries. "They didn’t need eighteen separate publishers," Schall recalled, echoing comments from Tencent executive Yong‑yi Zhu who recently told GamesIndustry.biz that the firm is pruning its holdings to align with long‑term strategic goals. So what is Secret Mode’s own plan? Schall and CEO Ed Blincoe say the publisher is building around two distinct pillars: "pure indie" titles and higher‑budget, IP‑driven games like Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
The idea is that by backing quality projects across the spectrum, the company can carve out a sustainable niche in an increasingly crowded market. In today’s climate, discoverability is becoming ever more challenging. Schall observed that it is "almost impossible to sell a mediocre game" and even getting a "very, very good game" into the hands of players is a steep uphill battle.
"There is no easy answer anymore, there’s no kind of playbook. You just have to try and make yourself lucky by making the right decisions," he explained. One of those decisions is to double‑down on titles that have already demonstrated traction but still possess untapped potential.
Secret Mode has placed a sizeable wager on Star Wars: Galactic Racer, slated for release on 6 October. Schall described the game’s wishlist numbers as "phenomenal," while Blincoe called the early playtest experience "exceptional" and said the title has only improved over the past year. Developed by the newly formed UK studio Fuse Games, Galactic Racer was signed by Secret Mode at the end of September 2023 after convincing Emona Capital that the project warranted further investment. "We walked through the door and said we have this opportunity, we need to figure out how we can possibly fund it: they helped us find out how to fund it," Schall recounted.
Secret Mode’s other high‑budget bets differ in nature. The publisher has taken on the publishing duties for Fancy Games' Escape the Backrooms—originally launched in Early Access in 2022—and for Anegar Games' 2024 release Chained Together. Both titles lean heavily on cooperative, online‑focused gameplay, a trend Schall attributes to a generation that grew up during the pandemic and now spends a lot of time on platforms like Twitch. "They grew up during COVID, they're used to interacting on Twitch, and that's where they're hanging out with their mates," Schall said.
"I think you can either just go, 'Yeah, it's viral, and it'll last for about four weeks', or we can iterate on it, and bring more things, and try and keep people within that home." Beyond publishing, Secret Mode is also stepping into development through trusted external partners. Blackbird Interactive, an experienced studio, has been working on ongoing content for Escape the Backrooms. Additionally, Secret Mode has launched its own internal development studio in Sheffield, which Blincoe says will "help to continue to make content for those games." Both Escape the Backrooms and Chained Together are generating a steady flow of sales each month, enough to fund their own continued development.
"What we're seeing is new players coming in and wanting more, and the existing community wanting more content as well. So that's why we're trying to deliver that for them," Blincoe explained. This approach reflects a broader industry trend sometimes called "caretaker development," where a publisher or third‑party studio takes over an existing title when the original creators move on, keeping the game alive and profitable.
French studio Evil Empire, for example, recently assumed content duties for the popular indie hit Brotato and is actively scouting for similar opportunities. Schall believes there are many developers who have achieved modest success but feel trapped—whether by creative fatigue, demanding communities, or a desire to pursue new projects. Secret Mode aims to step in, provide publishing expertise, and allow those creators to "reset" and rediscover their passion for their games. He cited the case of Wobbledogs, an early‑access title built by Tom Astle with a small team.
"It was just him and a couple of artists, and he didn't know how to move it on. And we came along and went, 'we'll release it'. And now he's got the creative freedom to go and make something completely different," Schall recounted. The modern publishing model increasingly values the "long tail"—games that may not explode on launch day but grow steadily over months or years.
Schall, who spent 13 years at Sega, observed that many titles "didn't peak on day one" but eventually found sizable audiences through word‑of‑mouth, community mods, or algorithmic boosts. Sometimes a game simply hasn't reached the right audience yet. "Either because the algorithm hasn't pointed people to it, or that audience is somewhere else," Schall said. He noted several examples where a title launched with modest sales but became highly profitable six months later.
Nevertheless, discoverability remains a major headache. Schall admitted that luck—such as an influencer spotlight—can make a decisive difference. "I think discoverability is one of the biggest challenges this industry faces," he warned.
"Because everything is based on an algorithm, and the algorithm will tell you you want the same thing as everybody else, ultimately. How do we break that?
I would say that's one of the things that keeps me up at night." The old playbook—previewing a game to the press, mounting a massive launch marketing blitz, then moving on—no longer works reliably. Schall pointed out that a teenager can now publish a game on Roblox or itch.io and attract millions without any publisher involvement. "They don't know what a publisher is, and they're sitting down being a massively successful developer.
Some of them haven't even got business accounts… They don't even know the industry, and they're disrupting it," he said. Secret Mode therefore keeps an eye on these emerging, disruptive creators, especially as visual fidelity becomes less of a differentiator.
After decades of chasing photorealism, Schall believes players are now craving fun and distinct artistic identities. "I think as an industry we can learn a lot about that by finding our way to the fun first," he asserted.
While blockbuster‑style, high‑budget experiences like Star Wars: Galactic Racer will remain a core part of the portfolio, Schall is equally open to supporting unconventional projects—perhaps a vector‑graphics, 2D madness that simply delivers joy. In summary, Secret Mode is betting on two very different pillars: big‑IP, high‑budget games built by sizable teams, and tiny, experimental indie titles such as Everything is Crab.
Which side will dominate the company’s future remains to be seen. Schall emphasizes that the publisher remains receptive to larger opportunities, promising to run the numbers and assess feasibility rather than dismissing projects based on size alone. However, Blincoe cautions that the company must first prove its own stability before over‑committing. "The reality now is, let's see how the games that we've signed go," he said.
"We've got some more announcements coming up over the next few months to next year. And then let's see where we get to.
Let's see how Star Wars goes. Let's not run before we can walk. Let's get to the other side of Star Wars, and then we'll make a call on how we move everything forward for the company from there."