Lightbulb Crew
Lightbulb Crew is a Franco-Swedish indie game studio in Paris that develops and publishes tactical turn-based RPGs for PC via Steam, and operates the Firesquid indie publishing label serving other independent developers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
Lightbulb Crew firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lightbulb Crew
- Legal name
- LIGHTBULB CREW SAS
- Website
- https://lightbulbcrew.fr
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Lightbulb Crew is a Franco-Swedish indie game studio in Paris that develops and publishes tactical turn-based RPGs for PC via Steam, and operates the Firesquid indie publishing label serving other independent developers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lightbulb Crew industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Indie Video Game Development
- NAICS
- Independent Artists, Writers, and Performers (71151)
- SIC
- Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Strategy/4X/Management Game Studios (MPAFAAAK)
Keywords
Where Lightbulb Crew is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Lightbulb Crew business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Premium game sales on Steam: One-time purchase of premium indie games (Othercide, upcoming Ex Sanguis) distributed through Valve's Steam storefront, with Steam wishlist as the primary demand-generation funnel.
- Free-to-play game (historical): Games of Glory was released as a free-to-play top-down action team shooter on PC and PS4 with cross-play; servers are now closed. Future free-to-play model is not confirmed.
- Publishing revenue via Firesquid: Indie game publishing through Firesquid label, providing worldwide distribution, funding and production support, plus strategy and marketing services to independent developers in exchange for publishing economics (e.g., revenue share, recoupment).
- Targeted advertising and marketing via third-party platforms: Advertising-driven revenue generation through partnerships with Google (Google Ads, Google Shopping, YouTube), Facebook (Facebook Ads, Instagram), Reddit, Twitter, Twitch, Meltwater, and Mailchimp. The cookie policy cites funding the business by use of advertising revenues as a legitimate interest.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Games of Glory — free-to-play (servers now closed) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Othercide / Ex Sanguis — standard Steam premium digital purchase (price set on storefront) |
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
Lightbulb Crew product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lightbulb Crew is an independent game studio that develops and publishes premium indie video games—primarily tactical turn-based RPGs (Othercide, Ex Sanguis) and formerly a free-to-play cross-platform shooter (Games of Glory)—distributed via Steam and partner publishers such as Focus Entertainment and Shoreline Games. The studio also operates Firesquid, its in-house indie game publishing label providing worldwide distribution, funding, production support, and marketing services to independent developers.
Product overview
Lightbulb Crew is an independent, Franco-Swedish video game studio based in Paris (founded 2013) that operates as a single developer-plus-publisher rather than a modular SaaS platform. Its core product line consists of self-developed games — the horror-themed tactical turn-based title Othercide, the in-development roguelite tactical RPG Ex Sanguis (slated for 2026), Games of Glory (its first internally developed top-down team shooter, now closed), and Nova Hearts — each published individually on storefronts such as Steam. Alongside the development arm, the studio runs Firesquid, its own indie publishing label offering distribution, funding, production, and marketing support to other independent developers, which extends the studio's portfolio beyond first-party titles.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Firesquid: Indie game publishing label owned by Lightbulb Crew, offering worldwide distribution, funding and production support, strategy and marketing for independent developers.
Products and services
- Ex Sanguis An evolved roguelite tactical turn-based RPG from the creators of Othercide, in which players lead a group of elite warriors called Stillae to fight the agents of Stasis through strategic blood baths featuring timeline effects, environmental interactions, and procedural levels. Targeted at players who enjoy narrative-driven, mechanically deep tactical strategy games.
- Othercide A challenging horror-themed tactical turn-based game developed by Lightbulb Crew and published by Focus Entertainment, in which players lead the Daughters against Suffering in a stylized, story-driven combat experience.
- Nova Hearts A game listed under Lightbulb Crew's portfolio, published via Shoreline Games. Specific genre and mechanics are not described on the Lightbulb Crew site, with details directed to the Shoreline Games page.
- Games of Glory A top-down action team shooter set in a science-fiction universe that was free-to-play on PC (Steam) and PS4 with cross-play; servers have now been closed.
- Firesquid Lightbulb Crew's in-house indie game publishing label, providing worldwide distribution, funding and production support, plus strategy and marketing services to independent developers.
Companies that use Lightbulb Crew
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Lightbulb Crew technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature5 records
Lightbulb Crew partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Focus EntertainmentcoreFocus Entertainment publishes Othercide, Lightbulb Crew's flagship tactical horror turn-based title. As the publisher, Focus Entertainment handles broader distribution, marketing, and commercial release of the game.
- Shoreline GamescoreShoreline Games publishes Nova Hearts, a Lightbulb Crew title, acting as the commercial publishing partner for that game.
- Valve Corporation (Steam)coreSteam is the primary PC distribution and storefront partner for Lightbulb Crew's games (Othercide and Ex Sanguis wishlist/sale). The cookie policy explicitly lists Valve as a third-party partner.
- GameSparks Technologies LimitedcoreProvides cloud save progress and multiplayer functionality across Lightbulb Crew's apps; explicitly listed in the cookie policy as a third-party technology partner.
- Discord Inc.coreDiscord hosts the Lightbulb Crew community server used as the primary direct-to-player feedback and engagement channel.
- Google LLC (Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Shopping, YouTube)minorProvides analytics, paid advertising, shopping, and video distribution tools used across Lightbulb Crew's marketing stack.
- Facebook Inc. (Facebook Ads, Instagram)minorProvides paid social advertising and custom audience targeting (Facebook Custom Audiences) for Lightbulb Crew's marketing.
- Twitter Inc.minorListed as a third-party partner supporting Lightbulb Crew's social presence and advertising.
- Advance Publications Inc. (Reddit)minorListed as a third-party partner in Lightbulb Crew's cookie policy for advertising and community reach.
- Amazon.com Inc. (Twitch)minorListed as a third-party partner supporting advertising and streaming presence for Lightbulb Crew's games.
- Meltwater GroupminorListed as a third-party partner supporting marketing/media monitoring and advertising for Lightbulb Crew.
- MailchimpminorEmail newsletter and marketing automation platform used to communicate with Lightbulb Crew's customers and subscribers.
- Greenlink GroupminorListed as a third-party partner in Lightbulb Crew's cookie policy; role and nature of relationship not specified in the source material.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Lightbulb Crew competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Subset Games: Subset Games develops indie turn-based strategy titles (Into the Breach, FTL) with mechanically deep, art-directed combat — the closest direct analogue to Lightbulb Crew's Othercide and Ex Sanguis in scope, audience, and team size.
- Compulsion Games: Compulsion Games is a similarly sized indie studio (We Happy Few, South of Midnight) with art-forward, narrative-driven PC/console titles — a comparable boutique team producing stylised premium games.
- Mega Crit Games: Mega Crit is a small indie studio behind Slay the Spire, a flagship roguelike deck-builder — directly comparable to Lightbulb Crew's roguelite tactical RPG framing in Ex Sanguis and the small-team, premium-distribution business model.
- Harebrained Schemes: Harebrained Schemes specialises in tactical turn-based games built on licensed or original IPs (BattleTech, Shadowrun) — directly comparable genre, narrative-driven turn-based combat, and indie-to-mid-tier studio profile.
Broad incumbents
- Annapurna Interactive: Annapurna Interactive publishes narrative- and design-driven indie games — comparable to Lightbulb Crew's premium art-forward positioning and a relevant publishing peer for tactical/story-rich indie titles.
- Creative Assembly: Creative Assembly develops Total War — a large-scale turn-based strategy franchise — and represents the broader incumbent category of turn-based strategy games against which indie tactical RPGs like Othercide compete for player mind-share.
- Devolver Digital: Devolver Digital is a leading indie games publisher with a portfolio of art-forward, mechanically distinct premium titles — relevant as both a potential publishing peer for Lightbulb Crew and a benchmark for indie-publisher economics.
- Amplitude Studios: Amplitude Studios develops the Endless series of turn-based 4X/strategy games — a larger incumbent in the turn-based strategy genre whose audience overlaps with Lightbulb Crew's tactical RPG player base.
- Focus Entertainment: Focus Entertainment is the publisher of Othercide and a mid-tier global publisher across multiple genres — comparable as a channel partner and indicative of the publisher tier Lightbulb Crew can access with successful tactical RPG releases.
Emerging players
- Shoreline Games: Shoreline Games is the publisher of Lightbulb Crew's Nova Hearts and operates as a small indie-friendly publishing label — closely comparable to Firesquid in model and an emerging publishing peer.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Lightbulb Crew social profiles
Digital presenceLightbulb Crew compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Lightbulb Crew financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lightbulb Crew leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles18 records
Lightbulb Crew subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Lightbulb Crew funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lightbulb Crew 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 Lightbulb Crew
What does Lightbulb Crew do?
Lightbulb Crew is an independent game studio that develops and publishes premium indie video games—primarily tactical turn-based RPGs (Othercide, Ex Sanguis) and formerly a free-to-play cross-platform shooter (Games of Glory)—distributed via Steam and partner publishers such as Focus Entertainment and Shoreline Games. The studio also operates Firesquid, its in-house indie game publishing label providing worldwide distribution, funding, production support, and marketing services to independent developers.
Is Lightbulb Crew a public or private company?
Lightbulb Crew is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Lightbulb Crew founded?
Lightbulb Crew was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Lightbulb Crew based?
Lightbulb Crew is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does Lightbulb Crew make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Premium game sales on Steam is the primary driver. The others are free-to-play game (historical), publishing revenue via Firesquid and targeted advertising and marketing via third-party platforms.
Who are Lightbulb Crew's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Subset Games, Compulsion Games, Mega Crit Games and Harebrained Schemes. Broad incumbents are Annapurna Interactive, Creative Assembly, Devolver Digital, Amplitude Studios and Focus Entertainment. Shoreline Games is listed as an emerging player.
Does Lightbulb Crew have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lightbulb Crew.
What industry is Lightbulb Crew in?
Lightbulb Crew's product category is Indie Video Game Development. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAAAK, Strategy/4X/Management Game Studios. Its NAICS code is 71151 and its SIC code is 7812.