Theorycraft Games
Theorycraft Games is an independent US game studio founded in 2020 by Blizzard, Riot, and Bungie veterans. It developed SUPERVIVE, a free-to-play hero battle royale blending MOBA mechanics, which grew to 2M+ players before the studio announced server shutdown in late 2025.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersLos Angeles, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Theorycraft Games does
Theorycraft Games is an independent, venture-backed game development studio founded in 2020 by veterans of Blizzard, Riot, and Bungie. Headquartered in Los Angeles (with a registered address in Santa Monica at 520 Broadway #500), the studio operates a fully remote model and explicitly positions itself around small, autonomous teams focused on player-centered development of multiplayer games. Total disclosed funding is $87.5 million across multiple rounds, including a $50 million Series B in September 2022 led by Makers Fund with participation from NEA and a16z. The employee count is 11–50, with leadership that includes former Game Director of League of Legends, former VALORANT online services lead, former League of Legends global revenue lead, and former Overwatch principal technical artists.
The studio's sole commercial product to date is SUPERVIVE, a free-to-play squad-based hero battle royale that blends MOBA-style mechanics (champion abilities, team strategy) with battle royale gameplay. SUPERVIVE entered open beta in November 2024 and reached one million players shortly after launch; it exited early access as version 1.0 on July 24, 2025, with a 90% positive rating across 17,000 Steam reviews. Distribution is global via Steam. The game integrates with Discord through early adoption of the Discord Social SDK (alongside Facepunch and Scopely) and supports authentication via Steam and Epic Games accounts. Revenue is generated through a freemium model with in-game microtransactions for additional heroes, cosmetic items, and the Armory progression system. Underlying infrastructure runs on AWS (cloud), Accelbyte (backend services), Snowflake (analytics), and Sentry (error monitoring).
Despite strong review metrics at launch, SUPERVIVE's active player base decayed sharply post-1.0 — from a peak of approximately 50,000 concurrent users down to roughly 400 — and in December 2025 the studio announced server shutdown for February 25, 2026, citing unsustainable live-service economics and signaling a strategic pivot toward its next title, which is currently in development but has not yet been disclosed.
Theorycraft Games firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Theorycraft Games
- Legal name
- Theorycraft Games Inc
- Website
- https://theorycraftgames.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Theorycraft Games is an independent US game studio founded in 2020 by Blizzard, Riot, and Bungie veterans. It developed SUPERVIVE, a free-to-play hero battle royale blending MOBA mechanics, which grew to 2M+ players before the studio announced server shutdown in late 2025.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Theorycraft Games industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Multiplayer Video Games
- NAICS
- Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing (339930)
- SIC
- Games, Toys & Children's Vehicles (No Dolls & Bicycles) (3944)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Serious Games & Simulation Studios (Training, Defense, Enterprise) (MPAFAAAH)
Keywords
Where Theorycraft Games is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Los Angeles
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Theorycraft Games business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Free-to-play game with in-game purchases: Supervive operates on a free-to-play model with in-game purchases for customization and progression items. The company generates revenue through microtransactions while maintaining broad player accessibility.
- In-game transactions and virtual goods: Revenue generated from in-game purchases including the Armory system for enhanced progression and customization, additional heroes, and cosmetic items.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free-to-play base game |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Theorycraft Games product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Theorycraft Games is an independent game development studio that designs, develops, and operates free-to-play online multiplayer video games. Its flagship product, SUPERVIVE, is a squad-based hero battle royale that combines MOBA-style team strategy and champion abilities with battle royale gameplay, monetized through in-game microtransactions for cosmetics, additional heroes, and progression items.
Product overview
Theorycraft Games, founded in 2020 by veterans of Blizzard, Riot, and Bungie, has developed SUPERVIVE as its first game. Released in 2024 after four years of development, SUPERVIVE is a free-to-play squad-based hero battle royale that uniquely blends MOBA-style mechanics (champion abilities, team strategy) with battle royale gameplay. The game emphasizes team-based combat, hero customization, and community engagement, maintaining an 85%+ positive rating on Steam. The studio is currently working on its next game.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- SUPERVIVE SUPERVIVE is a free-to-play squad-based hero battle royale video game that blends MOBA-style champion abilities and team strategy with battle royale gameplay, featuring hero selection, team-based combat, progression systems, and Discord-integrated social features for individual PC gaming consumers.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2 million+ global players reached
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Theorycraft Games
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Theorycraft Games technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature1 record
Theorycraft Games partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- DiscordcoreEarly adoption partner for Discord Social SDK, enabling social features such as friends lists, cross-platform messaging, and voice chat directly into Supervive. Provides integrated experience for Discord's 200M+ monthly active users.
- AWScoreInfrastructure service provider used by Theorycraft Games for cloud services.
- AccelbytecoreInfrastructure service provider for game backend services.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Theorycraft Games competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Psyonix: Developer of Rocket League, a leading free-to-play competitive multiplayer title. Comparable in operating a high-quality free-to-play competitive esports-adjacent title and the same target audience of multiplayer gaming enthusiasts.
- Player First Games: Independent studio behind MultiVersus, a free-to-play team-based competitive multiplayer title with hero mechanics. Comparable as a similarly-sized independent studio founded by industry veterans and targeting the same hero-brawler competitive audience.
- Riot Games: Developer of League of Legends and VALORANT, the dominant hero-based competitive multiplayer titles that SUPERVIVE directly competed against. Theorycraft's CEO, CTO, Game Director, and many senior staff are ex-Riot, making Riot the closest comparable in genre, business model, and team pedigree.
- Respawn Entertainment: Developer of Apex Legends, the leading squad-based hero battle royale and SUPERVIVE's most direct gameplay analogue. Comparable in live-service, free-to-play hero shooter model and target audience of competitive multiplayer enthusiasts.
Emerging players
- People Can Fly: Mid-sized independent studio focused on competitive action/shooter titles (Outriders, Bulletstorm). Comparable as a similarly-sized developer of competitive multiplayer games with veteran talent.
- Phoenix Labs: Mid-sized studio behind Dauntless, a free-to-play cooperative multiplayer title. Comparable as a similarly-sized independent developer of free-to-play multiplayer action titles built by ex-AAA veterans.
- Second Dinner: Small, veteran-led (ex-Blizzard) independent studio behind Marvel Snap. Comparable as a similarly-sized indie studio founded by industry veterans that took a single flagship live-service title to market.
- Mountaintop Studios: Small, veteran-led competitive multiplayer studio founded by ex-Riot and ex-Sony talent. Highly comparable as a similarly-sized emerging player building competitive multiplayer titles with a similar team pedigree.
Broad incumbents
- Blizzard Entertainment: Developer of Overwatch 2 and Diablo IV, and source of multiple Theorycraft senior leaders. Closely comparable in terms of competitive multiplayer IP, live-service expertise, and the talent pool Theorycraft draws from.
- Epic Games: Developer of Fortnite, the dominant battle royale live-service title. Comparable as a free-to-play, hero-based battle royale operator targeting the same multiplayer gaming enthusiast segment.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Theorycraft Games social profiles
Digital presenceTheorycraft Games financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Theorycraft Games leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles9 records
Theorycraft Games funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Theorycraft Games M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Theorycraft Games
What does Theorycraft Games do?
Theorycraft Games is an independent game development studio that designs, develops, and operates free-to-play online multiplayer video games. Its flagship product, SUPERVIVE, is a squad-based hero battle royale that combines MOBA-style team strategy and champion abilities with battle royale gameplay, monetized through in-game microtransactions for cosmetics, additional heroes, and progression items.
Is Theorycraft Games a public or private company?
Theorycraft Games is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Theorycraft Games founded?
Theorycraft Games was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Theorycraft Games based?
Theorycraft Games is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States, in the North America region.
How does Theorycraft Games make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Free-to-play game with in-game purchases are the primary driver. The others are in-game transactions and virtual goods.
Who are Theorycraft Games's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Psyonix, Player First Games, Riot Games and Respawn Entertainment. Emerging players are People Can Fly, Phoenix Labs, Second Dinner and Mountaintop Studios. Broad incumbents are Blizzard Entertainment and Epic Games.
Does Theorycraft Games have an API?
No public API is recorded for Theorycraft Games.
What industry is Theorycraft Games in?
Theorycraft Games's product category is Online Multiplayer Video Games. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAAAH, Serious Games & Simulation Studios (Training, Defense, Enterprise). Its NAICS code is 339930 and its SIC code is 3944.