Fool's Theory
Fool's Theory is a Polish game development studio that builds narrative-rich Unreal Engine 5 RPGs (The Thaumaturge, Seven, The Witcher Remake) and provides co-development services to AAA publishers including CD Projekt Red, Larian Studios, and Bloober Team.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2015
- HeadquartersBielsko-biala, Poland
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Fool's Theory does
Fool's Theory Sp. z o. o. is a Polish game development studio founded in 2015 in Bielsko-Biała, specializing in narrative-rich role-playing games built on Unreal Engine 5. The studio operates a dual business model: it develops and publishes original IP titles (The Thaumaturge, launched March 2024 with 11 bit studios as publisher; Seven: The Days Long Gone, released December 2017) while simultaneously providing co-development and support services to major AAA publishers, including CD Projekt Red on The Witcher 1 remake and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past expansion, Larian Studios on Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2, People Can Fly on Outriders, Bloober Team on Silent Hill 2, Covenant Games on Gord, and Limbic Entertainment on Park Beyond.
The studio's technical foundation rests on Unreal Engine 5, photogrammetry-based asset workflows, and proprietary developer tooling—most notably the Fool's Theory Cinematic Dialogue System, an automated tool that produced 21 hours of cinematic content, 400 dialogues, 40,000 sequencers, and over 3,000 animations for The Thaumaturge, and is licensed to other studios. The company is led by CEO Jakub Rokosz, COO Anna Mąka, CDO Karolina Kuzia-Rokosz, and CCO Krzysztof Mąka, with leadership drawn from former CD Projekt Red and other top-tier studio alumni.
Fool's Theory monetizes through three streams: one-time license sales of original games on Steam and console storefronts, professional services revenue from co-development contracts with AAA publishers, and licensing/royalties from proprietary developer tools. The studio is privately held, founder-controlled, and has not disclosed venture capital or private equity investment; its sole disclosed funding event is a $625,711 investment from 11 bit studios in February 2022, supplemented by a PLN 12.8M EU/NCBR research grant for the Cinematic Dialogue System. Distribution covers global markets via Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox, with active global remote hiring within +/-2 hours of GMT+1.
Fool's Theory firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Fool's Theory
- Legal name
- Fool's Theory Sp. z o. o.
- Website
- https://foolstheory.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2015
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Fool's Theory is a Polish game development studio that builds narrative-rich Unreal Engine 5 RPGs (The Thaumaturge, Seven, The Witcher Remake) and provides co-development services to AAA publishers including CD Projekt Red, Larian Studios, and Bloober Team.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Fool's Theory industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Game Development Services
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Narrative/Adventure & RPG Game Studios (MPAFAAAL)
Keywords
Where Fool's Theory is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bielsko-biala
- HQ country
- Poland
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Fool's Theory business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Original Game Development and Publishing: Fool's Theory develops and publishes original IP games. Their flagship original title The Thaumaturge was published in partnership with 11 bit studios. The studio also released Seven: The Days Long Gone as their first self-published title. Revenue is generated through one-time game sales on digital distribution platforms like Steam.
- Co-Development and Support Services: Fool's Theory provides development support services to other studios on major AAA projects. This includes level design, programming, 3D assets, animation, and tools development. Work has been provided to CD Projekt Red (The Witcher remake), Larian Studios (Baldur's Gate 3), People Can Fly (Outriders), Covenant Games (Gord), and Bloober Team (Silent Hill 2).
- Developer Tools Licensing: Fool's Theory offers its proprietary development tools (such as the Cinematic Dialogue System) to other studios under license, providing an additional revenue stream from their technological innovations.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Fool's Theory product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Fool's Theory is a Polish game development studio that creates and publishes narrative-rich original RPGs (The Thaumaturge, Seven: The Days Long Gone) and provides co-development, level design, programming, animation, and tools support services to AAA game publishers such as CD Projekt Red, Larian Studios, People Can Fly, and Bloober Team. The studio also licenses proprietary development tools, notably the Fool's Theory Cinematic Dialogue System, to other studios.
Product overview
Fool's Theory is a Polish game development studio founded in 2015 in Bielsko-Biała, specializing in narrative-rich RPGs. The company develops its own original IP titles (The Thaumaturge, Seven: The Days Long Gone, The Witcher Remake) and provides project support on other AAA titles. The studio has collaborated with CD Projekt Red on The Witcher remake and expansion, worked with Larian Studios on Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2, and contributed to titles including Outriders, Gord, Park Beyond, and Silent Hill 2. The company also develops and licenses proprietary developer tools including the Fool's Theory Cinematic Dialogue System. All Fool's Theory original games and supported projects are listed in the products array below.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- The Thaumaturge A story-driven RPG with morally ambiguous choices set in early 20th century Warsaw. Players take on the role of a thaumaturge who can perceive and manipulate salutors — esoteric beings — to achieve their goals. Published by 11 bit studios and sold to consumers on Steam and console stores.
- Seven: The Days Long Gone An open-world isometric stealth and action RPG set in a 'beyond post-apocalyptic' environment, featuring a climbing system that enables free traversal of obstacles of any height. Fool's Theory's first self-published title, including the Drowned Past expansion. Sold to consumers via Steam and console stores.
- The Witcher Remake A remake of the original 2007 Witcher game, rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5. Co-developed by Fool's Theory in partnership with CD Projekt Red, which retains creative supervision. The game will be sold to consumers by CD Projekt Red.
- Fool's Theory Cinematic Dialogue System A proprietary automated tool for producing cinematic dialogue scenes in games. Generates facial expressions, keyword-driven gesticulation, automatic resting sequences for actors, filmic lighting, and camera shots; adapts to multiple languages. Licensed to other game studios.
- Co-Development and Support Services Professional game development services sold to AAA publishers and studios, including level design, gameplay and tools programming, 3D/environment art, animation, narrative and quest writing, and full co-development capacity under the publisher's creative supervision.
Quantifiable outcome
- 21 hours of cinematic content created using proprietary dialogue system including 400 dialogues, 40,000 sequencers, and 3,000+ animations for The Thaumaturge
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Fool's Theory
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Fool's Theory technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Fool's Theory partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- CD Projekt RedcoreStrategic co-development partnership for The Witcher 1 remake (being rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5) and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past expansion. CD Projekt Red provides full creative supervision while Fool's Theory handles production. The partnership may extend to assistance on The Witcher 4 development.
- 11 bit studioscorePublisher for The Thaumaturge, Fool's Theory's original IP game. Partnership with 11 bit studios allows Fool's Theory to expand their potential and focus on developing narrative-rich games while the publisher handles distribution and marketing.
- Larian StudiosminorProvided gameplay and tools programming support for Baldur's Gate 3, the critically acclaimed RPG developed by Larian Studios.
- People Can Fly / Square EnixminorProvided level design, meshing and programming support for Outriders, the third-person RPG-Shooter developed by People Can Fly and published by Square Enix.
- Covenant GamesminorProvided programming, writing, 3D/enviro, and animation support for Gord, a dark fantasy colony sim published by Covenant Games.
- Limbic Entertainment / Bandai NamcominorProvided 3D asset support for Park Beyond, an amusement park management game published by Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe.
- Bloober Team / KonamiminorProvided level design support for Silent Hill 2 remake, developed by Bloober Team and published by Konami.
- Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju (NCBR)minorEuropean Union co-funded research project (POIR.01.01.01-00-0258/22) worth 12,847,577.67 PLN with 6,423,788.87 PLN European Regional Development Fund contribution for development of the Fool's Theory Cinematic Dialogue System.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Fool's Theory competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Rebellion Developments: UK-based independent studio/publisher (Sniper Elite, Zombie Army) with both original IP and work-for-hire offerings. Comparable as a European mid-to-large independent that combines publishing with co-development and original releases.
- Techland: Polish AAA studio (Dying Light, Dead Island) with significantly larger headcount and global publishing operations. Comparable as a senior Polish games incumbent operating in narrative/action-RPG genres.
- CD Projekt Red: Poland's flagship AAA studio (Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher series). Directly comparable as a Polish narrative-RPG studio — and currently Fool's Theory's largest customer — though materially larger and self-sufficient in development capacity.
- Larian Studios: Belgian AAA RPG studio (Baldur's Gate 3, Divinity: Original Sin 2). Directly comparable as a narrative-RPG-focused studio that has historically used co-development partners (including Fool's Theory) for level and tools work.
Direct peers
- People Can Fly: Polish AAA studio working on action-RPGs (Outriders) that engages external co-development partners. Comparable as a Polish counterpart that has both shipped major titles and outsourced/support work to studios like Fool's Theory.
- Bloober Team: Kraków-based narrative/horror game studio that also does AAA co-development work (Silent Hill 2 remake with Konami). Closely comparable as a Polish mid-sized studio balancing own-IP releases with high-profile third-party projects.
- 11 bit studios: Polish publisher/developer known for narrative and strategy games (This War of Mine, Frostpunk) and the publisher of Fool's Theory's The Thaumaturge. Comparable as a Polish mid-cap games company balancing publishing and original development, and an actual investor/customer of Fool's Theory.
- Deck13 Interactive: German studio known for narrative/action-RPGs (The Surge series) and co-development work. Comparable as a European mid-sized narrative-RPG developer balancing own-IP with external project support.
- Cyanide Studio: French studio developing narrative and sports titles (Styx, Blood Bowl). Comparable as a European mid-sized narrative-game developer with co-development and licensing experience.
- Limbic Entertainment: German studio behind park management games (Park Beyond, Tropico 6). Comparable as a European mid-sized studio that has used external co-development partners (including Fool's Theory) for 3D asset work on AA/AAA projects.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Fool's Theory social profiles
Digital presenceFool's Theory financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Fool's Theory leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Fool's Theory funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
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Fool's Theory 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 Fool's Theory
What does Fool's Theory do?
Fool's Theory is a Polish game development studio that creates and publishes narrative-rich original RPGs (The Thaumaturge, Seven: The Days Long Gone) and provides co-development, level design, programming, animation, and tools support services to AAA game publishers such as CD Projekt Red, Larian Studios, People Can Fly, and Bloober Team. The studio also licenses proprietary development tools, notably the Fool's Theory Cinematic Dialogue System, to other studios.
Is Fool's Theory a public or private company?
Fool's Theory is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Fool's Theory founded?
Fool's Theory was founded in 2015. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Fool's Theory based?
Fool's Theory is headquartered in Bielsko-biala, Poland, in the Europe region.
How does Fool's Theory make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Original Game Development and Publishing is the primary driver. The others are co-Development and Support Services and developer Tools Licensing.
Who are Fool's Theory's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Rebellion Developments, Techland, CD Projekt Red and Larian Studios. Direct peers are People Can Fly, Bloober Team, 11 bit studios, Deck13 Interactive, Cyanide Studio and Limbic Entertainment.
Does Fool's Theory have an API?
No public API is recorded for Fool's Theory.
What industry is Fool's Theory in?
Fool's Theory's product category is Game Development Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAAAL, Narrative/Adventure & RPG Game Studios. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7990.