Secret Mode is currently beaming with optimism. After cutting ties with Sumo Digital and its parent company Tencent last year, the newly autonomous UK publisher has hit the ground running. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom, Chief Publishing Officer James Schall highlighted the "phenomenal growth" the company has experienced over the past 18 months. He explained that the team initially drafted a business roadmap extending to 2030, only to exceed those targets within roughly four months.
Schall emphasized that the split from Sumo was straightforward, thanks in large part to fresh capital from Emona Capital, and he praised Tencent for being "very helpful" throughout the process. "I was amazed at how quickly the deal was finalized and how positive the experience was for everyone involved," he said. The separation made strategic sense for both parties. After Tencent acquired Sumo in early 2022, the Chinese conglomerate began evaluating its sprawling portfolio and concluded that it did not need eighteen separate publishing entities.
This aligns with comments from Tencent executive Yong‑yi Zhu, who recently told GamesIndustry.biz that the firm is pruning its holdings to focus on companies that match its long‑term vision. So what is Secret Mode’s new direction? According to Schall and CEO Ed Blincoe, the publisher is building around two distinct pillars: pure indie titles on one side, and higher‑budget, IP‑driven games on the other. The theory is that by backing quality projects across the spectrum, the company can carve out a sustainable niche in an increasingly crowded market.
Schall noted that discoverability is becoming ever more challenging. "In today’s environment it’s almost impossible to sell a mediocre game, and even a very good one can struggle," he explained. "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." One of those decisions is to double down on titles that have already shown promise but still have untapped potential.
Secret Mode has placed a sizable wager on Star Wars: Galactic Racer, slated for release on October 6. Schall described the game’s wish‑list numbers as "phenomenal," while Blincoe recalled first playing the title more than a year ago and being impressed by its continued improvement.
Developed by the new UK studio Fuse Games, Galactic Racer was signed by Secret Mode at the end of September last year after convincing Emona Capital that it warranted 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 said. The publisher’s other high‑budget bets take a different form. Secret Mode has assumed publishing responsibilities for Fancy Games’ Escape the Backrooms, which entered Early Access in 2022, and for Anegar Games’ 2024 release Chained Together.
Schall argues that co‑op experiences like these cater to a generation that grew up during the pandemic, spending countless hours on Twitch and other live‑stream platforms. "They’re used to interacting online with friends, so you can either rely on a short viral spike or iterate and keep the community engaged over the long term," he said. Blincoe added that Secret Mode is not merely publishing these titles but also overseeing their ongoing development through trusted partners. External studio Blackbird Interactive has been working on Escape the Backrooms for some time, and Secret Mode recently opened an internal development studio in Sheffield to produce additional content for its portfolio.
Both games are generating a steady flow of sales each month, enough to fund their own updates. "New players keep joining, and existing fans want more content, so we’re delivering that," Blincoe explained. This approach reflects a broader industry trend often called "caretaker development," where a publisher steps in to maintain and expand an existing game after the original creators move on.
French studio Evil Empire, for example, now handles post‑launch content for Blobfish’s hit Brotato and is actively seeking similar opportunities. Schall sees a wealth of possibilities with developers who have achieved modest success but feel constrained—whether by creative fatigue, demanding communities, or financial comfort. "We help them reset, rediscover their love for the game, and handle the publishing side, which isn’t easy but we have the expertise and the right partners," he said.
Secret Mode has dealt with similar situations before. Schall cited Wobbledogs, a project by Tom Astle that was stuck in Early Access with only a handful of developers. Secret Mode stepped in, released the game, and gave Astle the freedom to pursue new ideas. This illustrates the company’s belief that many titles have a "long tail"—they may not explode on day one but can grow steadily over months or years.
Schall, a former Sega veteran of 13 years, has witnessed numerous games that gradually built audiences long after launch. Finding that audience, however, often hinges on luck. An influencer’s endorsement or a favorable algorithmic push can make all the difference.
"Discoverability is one of the biggest challenges we face," Schall admitted. "Algorithms tend to funnel everyone toward the same popular content, and breaking that cycle keeps me up at night." The old publishing playbook—preview the game to the press, launch with a massive marketing blitz, then move on—no longer holds sway. Today, a teenager can upload a game to Roblox or itch.io and amass millions of players without any publisher involvement.
"They don’t even know what a publisher is, yet they’re wildly successful and disrupting the industry," Schall observed. Consequently, Secret Mode is actively scouting for disruptive, youth‑driven projects where visual fidelity is no longer the primary selling point. After decades of chasing photorealism, the market is shifting toward fun, distinctive experiences.
"We can learn a lot by putting fun first," Schall said, noting that while visually spectacular titles like Star Wars: Galactic Racer will remain important, there is also room for quirky, 2D vector‑graphics games that simply entertain. In summary, Secret Mode is hedging its bets across two very different pillars: big‑budget, IP‑heavy games built by sizable teams, and lean indie experiments such as Everything is Crab.
Which pillar will dominate the company’s future remains to be seen. Schall assures that the publisher remains open to larger opportunities, stating, "We’ll run the numbers and see if it works; we’re not turning things down because of size." Blincoe, however, cautions that the firm must first prove its stability before over‑committing. "The reality now is, let’s see how the games we’ve signed perform," he said.
"We have more announcements coming in the next months and into next year. We’ll watch Star Wars, we won’t run before we can walk, and once we’ve crossed that finish line we’ll decide how to move forward."