Evil Empire
Evil Empire is a Bordeaux-based private game studio that develops 2D action and roguelite titles, including Dead Cells expansions, Brotato, and The Rogue Prince of Persia, and co-develops Castlevania: Belmont's Curse with Motion Twin for Konami.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersBordeaux, France
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Evil Empire does
Evil Empire is a privately held French game development studio headquartered in Bordeaux that builds 2D action, action-roguelite, and platformer games for PC and console. The studio's core technology is a specialized 2D action and roguelite engine and combat system, originally built up through post-launch work on the Dead Cells franchise, which it now adapts across new titles and genres. Its shipped catalog includes four Dead Cells content expansions (The Bad Seed, Fatal Falls, The Queen and the Sea, Return to Castlevania) and two standalone games (Brotato, The Rogue Prince of Persia), distributed via Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch on a one-time-purchase basis.
The studio operates a hybrid revenue model combining direct-to-consumer game sales with co-development fees and IP licensing royalties from major publishers. Evil Empire co-develops titles with Motion Twin under publisher agreements — most notably Castlevania: Belmont's Curse for Konami, announced in February 2026, and The Rogue Prince of Persia under license from Ubisoft. Its customer base is therefore split between a long-tail of global digital storefront consumers and a small set of enterprise publisher clients (Konami, Ubisoft) whose co-development commissions anchor the forward project pipeline. The studio is privately held with no disclosed funding rounds or revenue figures, and operates with a headcount in the 51-100 range.
Evil Empire firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Evil Empire
- Legal name
- Evil Empire
- Website
- https://evilempirestudio.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Evil Empire is a Bordeaux-based private game studio that develops 2D action and roguelite titles, including Dead Cells expansions, Brotato, and The Rogue Prince of Persia, and co-develops Castlevania: Belmont's Curse with Motion Twin for Konami.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Evil Empire industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Indie Video Games
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Indie Game Studios (MPAFAAAC)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Narrative/Adventure & RPG Game Studios (MPAFAAAL)
Keywords
Where Evil Empire is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bordeaux
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Evil Empire business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Game sales (one-time purchase): Evil Empire develops and ships game titles to end consumers via digital storefronts (Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch) on a one-time purchase basis; titles include The Rogue Prince of Persia, Brotato, and the Dead Cells content expansions (Return to Castlevania, The Queen and the Sea, Fatal Falls, The Bad Seed).
- Co-development fees from major IP holders: Co-development revenue from working with major publishers on legacy IP — e.g., Evil Empire and Motion Twin co-developing Castlevania: Belmont's Curse for Konami, scheduled for release on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
- IP crossover / licensed collaboration revenue: Revenue from licensed IP crossover content (e.g., Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania collaboration with Konami's Castlevania IP), distributed as paid game content.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | — | One-time purchase game titles across PC and console storefronts |
| Other | — | Triple-i Initiative participant fee (B2B event participation) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Evil Empire product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Evil Empire is an independent game studio that develops, updates, and expands 2D action-roguelite video games, with its flagship title Dead Cells and a catalog of expansions, alongside self-published titles such as Brotato. The studio also performs co-development work for major publishers on established franchises (e.g., The Rogue Prince of Persia with Ubisoft), adapting its internal engine and team to third-party IP.
Product overview
Evil Empire operates as a multi-title independent game studio rather than a single unified product or platform-plus-modules architecture. Its portfolio consists of a mix of self-published games — The Rogue Prince of Persia (an action roguelite in the Prince of Persia series) and Brotato (a top-down arena action game) — together with ongoing post-launch content for the Dead Cells franchise, including the early-game DLC The Bad Seed, the mid-game DLC Fatal Falls, the late-game DLC The Queen and the Sea, and the Castlevania crossover DLC Return to Castlevania. In parallel, Evil Empire has co-developed (with Motion Twin and publisher Konami) the announced 2D action-exploration game Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, extending its collaboration-based work on established IP beyond the Dead Cells ecosystem.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Dead Cells
- The Rogue Prince of Persia
Quantifiable outcome
- Castlevania: Belmont's Curse scheduled for release later in 2026 across Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Evil Empire
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Evil Empire technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Evil Empire partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core, minor / ecosystem and major / core.
- Motion Twinflagship / coreMotion Twin and Evil Empire are co-developing Castlevania: Belmont's Curse with Konami (2D action-exploration game, planned for Switch/PC/PS5/Xbox Series X/S). They previously co-developed the Dead Cells franchise and its content expansions (e.g., Dead Cells: Return to Castlevania). Relationship is bidirectional — shared co-development and shared IP.
- Konamiflagship / coreKonami is the IP holder and publisher of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, co-developed with Evil Empire and Motion Twin. Announced at Sony's State of Play as part of the Castlevania franchise's 40th anniversary celebrations.
- Triple-i Initiativeminor / ecosystemEvil Empire (via COO Benjamin Laulan) is associated with the Triple-i Initiative, a not-for-profit indie games showcase where approximately 40 selected developers pay around €14,700 each to participate; Evil Empire titles such as The Rogue Prince of Persia and Castlevania: Belmont's Curse are featured in such showcases.
- Ubisoftmajor / coreEvil Empire is co-developing The Rogue Prince of Persia, 'the new action roguelite installment in the Prince of Persia series' — indicating a licensed-IP partnership with Ubisoft, the owner of the Prince of Persia franchise.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Evil Empire competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Motion Twin: French independent game studio and co-creator of Dead Cells; co-develops Castlevania: Belmont's Curse with Evil Empire and shares IP and engineering lineage, making it the closest direct peer and de facto partner.
- Supergiant Games: Independent studio behind Hades, Bastion, and Transistor; comparable as a privately held, award-winning indie developer specializing in tightly crafted 2D/2.5D action games with strong content pipelines.
- Dotemu: Paris-based indie publisher/developer specializing in reviving classic 2D and retro franchises (Streets of Rage, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge); directly comparable as a French indie studio working on legacy IP.
- WayForward Technologies: Independent studio known for 2D action-platformers and licensed-IP collaborations (Shantae, Advance Wars, Contra); comparable in its 2D-action focus and willingness to take on legacy publisher IP.
- Yacht Club Games: Independent studio behind Shovel Knight and Mina the Hollower; comparable as a privately held indie developer of high-quality 2D action games with strong brand recognition.
- Sabotage Studio: Canadian indie studio behind The Messenger and Sea of Stars; comparable as an indie developer of tightly crafted 2D action games with strong critical reception.
- Moon Studios: Independent studio behind Ori and the Blind Forest/Will of the Wisps; comparable as a privately held indie developer of critically acclaimed 2D action-platformers on multi-platform releases.
- Mega Cat Studios: Indie studio repeatedly mentioned alongside Evil Empire as part of a cohort being entrusted with legacy publisher franchises; directly comparable as a small studio taking on major IP co-development.
Emerging players
- Screen Burn Interactive: Smaller indie studio cited alongside Evil Empire in industry coverage as part of the wave of studios picking up major publisher IP; comparable but with a narrower portfolio.
Broad incumbents
- Konami (as publisher counterparty): Major Japanese publisher and IP holder commissioning Castlevania: Belmont's Curse; relevant as the dominant counterparty shaping Evil Empire's largest near-term project, not as a direct competitor.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Evil Empire social profiles
Digital presenceEvil Empire financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Evil Empire leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Evil Empire funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Evil Empire 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 Evil Empire
What does Evil Empire do?
Evil Empire is an independent game studio that develops, updates, and expands 2D action-roguelite video games, with its flagship title Dead Cells and a catalog of expansions, alongside self-published titles such as Brotato. The studio also performs co-development work for major publishers on established franchises (e.g., The Rogue Prince of Persia with Ubisoft), adapting its internal engine and team to third-party IP.
Is Evil Empire a public or private company?
Evil Empire is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Evil Empire founded?
Evil Empire was founded in 2019. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Evil Empire based?
Evil Empire is headquartered in Bordeaux, France, in the Europe region.
How does Evil Empire make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Game sales (one-time purchase) is the primary driver. The others are co-development fees from major IP holders and IP crossover / licensed collaboration revenue.
Who are Evil Empire's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Motion Twin, Supergiant Games, Dotemu, WayForward Technologies, Yacht Club Games, Sabotage Studio, Moon Studios and Mega Cat Studios. Screen Burn Interactive is listed as an emerging player. Konami (as publisher counterparty) is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Evil Empire have an API?
No public API is recorded for Evil Empire.
What industry is Evil Empire in?
Evil Empire's product category is Indie Video Games. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAAAC, Indie Game Studios, with a secondary code of MPAFAAAL, Narrative/Adventure & RPG Game Studios. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.