Art paves the way for a glorious fantasy adventure that appears beautifully crafted and highly entertaining in an indie game studio’s first release.
On Feb. 5, Noodle Cat Games released a trailer for its first game title “Cloudheim,” which is set in a Nordic inspired world with the mission of returning it to its former glory.
The game is somewhat reminiscent of Nintendo’s, “Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” but with more of a focus on combat and multiplayer game play.
“‘Cloudheim’ blends the exceptional talent of a veteran team with an experimental, iterative development process informed by science and modern psychology,” said David Hunt, CEO and Founder of Noodle Cat Games, in a press release.
This game will be the first for the new studio with founding members who have worked at major industry studios such as Epic Games, Electronic Arts, Codemasters, Disney and BioWare.
Popular games the team have worked on include “Fortnite,” “Star Wars: The Old Republic” and “Infinity Blade.”
The exact release date for the game has yet to be given but is confirmed to be 2025. The initial release will be on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. No word has been given if it will also be released on the Nintendo Switch 2, which will also release later this year.
Hunt also went on to mention how important creative freedom is for the team when making games and how they are dedicated to focus toward quality and gameplay experience.
“Every member of the team has a meaningful creative impact…I’m proud of what we’ve built and how the team has proven this process is ultimately better for the ones who matter most — our players,” Hunt said.
Noodle Cat Games was founded in 2022 by Hunt and a small group of individuals from other studios, and this idea was at the heart of the studio’s creation.
Hunt sought to create a studio that focuses on quality without sacrificing the well-being of the team making the games.
“Usually, it’s not malicious. The time pressure and fleeting nature of financial success make it easy to stack one seemingly minor sacrifice on top of another. I’ve seen this grind too many coworkers to dust. In one heartbreaking case, I lost a friend and mentor to heart failure far too early in his life, due to overwork,” Hunt said in a press release.
In creating Noodle Cat Games, Hunt wanted to focus on creating a work environment that was flexible, based on constructive feedback, creativity, growth, employee wellbeing and health, and fair pay.
Hunt is seeking to build a game studio that produces quality and creative games but without the cost of hurting his team.
“Noodle Cat does not, and never will, have all the solutions, but we are committed to approaching this company as we would any good game mechanic – with research, experimentation, patience, perseverance and iteration,” Hunt said.
