Weather Factory

What Weather Factory does

Weather Factory is a privately held, two-person indie game microstudio headquartered in London, United Kingdom, founded in 2016/2017 by Alexis Kennedy (formerly of Failbetter Games and creator of Fallen London and Sunless Sea) and Lottie Bevan. The studio develops narrative-driven games and tabletop products set within a shared proprietary fictional universe called the Secret Histories, which spans its flagship Cultist Simulator (a roguelike narrative card game launched May 2018), the follow-up Book of Hours (launched August 2023 after five years of development), and the announced Travelling At Night CRPG. The studio's core technical foundation is the Unity engine for cross-platform development, and its signature design innovation is Kennedy's "Quality-Based Narrative" system, in which story content is triggered by player-controlled resources and qualities rather than fixed branches—a mechanic co-developed with the Aspect Pool system that lets players strategically rescue failures.

Weather Factory monetizes through a diversified mix of one-time license game sales distributed across Steam, GOG, Humble, the App Store, Google Play, and the Nintendo Switch eShop (mobile and Switch ports handled by partner Playdigious), paid DLC expansions (Dancer, Priest, Ghoul, Exile at £1.99 mobile IAPs), and direct-to-consumer merchandise such as the Tarot of the Hours, books of essays by Kennedy, enamel pins, posters, and notebooks sold via Etsy at £7–£65 per item. A tabletop RPG vertical was opened with The Lady Afterwards (October 2021), and the founders report donating 10% of monthly profits to charity. The studio operates without permanent headcount expansion beyond its two co-founders, supplementing capacity with trusted freelancers; the only known external capital is a £82,033 Kickstarter raised in September 2017 from 4,788 backers.

Weather Factory's customers are individual PC and console gamers drawn to intellectually demanding, literary narrative experiences with occult and Lovecraftian themes, including fans of Disco Elysium, Planescape: Torment, and the founders' earlier Failbetter titles. The company engages its community through an active Reddit forum (r/weatherfactory), the Skeleton Songs podcast, a newsletter, Eurogamer-published essays by Kennedy, and a formal Sixth History Community Licence that supports modding for Cultist Simulator and Book of Hours. Cultist Simulator achieved #1 on Steam's global top sellers list at launch, received double BAFTA nominations, and earned the studio four Develop:Star Awards in 2019; key business risks include extreme dependence on two individuals, absence of disclosed revenue or recurring revenue streams, and no institutional investor backing.

Name

Weather Factory

Legal name

Weather Factory Limited

Website

https://weatherfactory.biz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Weather Factory is a two-person London-based indie studio developing narrative card and role-playing games set in its original Secret Histories universe. It serves individual PC and console gamers seeking literary, occult-themed gameplay distributed across Steam, mobile, and console storefronts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Indie narrative video games

NAICS

Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912), Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing (339930)

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945)

akta.pro primary industry

AAA & Premium Game Studios (PC/Console) (MPAFAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Hobby Games & Miniatures Retail (Tabletop RPGs, Wargaming) (CRALAFAH), Hobby & Model Kits Distribution (RC, Scale Models, Miniatures) (CRAOAMAD)

Keywords

• Indie narrative games
• Card-based video games
• Tabletop roleplaying games
• Digital game distribution
• Game merchandise

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Game Sales (Direct): Direct sales of Cultist Simulator, Book of Hours, and upcoming Travelling At Night through Steam, GOG, Humble, itch.io, App Store, Google Play, and Nintendo Switch eShop. One-time purchase model with base game and optional DLC expansions.
2. DLC Expansions: Paid downloadable content for existing games. Cultist Simulator DLC includes Dancer, Priest, Ghoul, and Exile expansions. Mobile versions offer in-app purchases.
3. Merchandise: Physical goods sold through Etsy including tarot decks (Tarot of the Hours, Lucid Tarot), books ('Against Worldbuilding', 'The Snare of the Tree'), enamel pins, posters, notebooks, USB drives, and apparel bundles. Sold directly through their Etsy storefront.
4. Tabletop RPG Products: The Lady Afterwards - an occult 1920s tabletop RPG for 2-8 players, sold as digital download and physical boxed edition with gamebooks, character sheets, dice, and artefacts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Weather Factory is an indie microstudio that designs, develops, and sells narrative-driven video games, tabletop roleplaying games, and themed merchandise unified by a proprietary fictional universe called the Secret Histories. Its flagship products are Cultist Simulator, a roguelike narrative card game, and Book of Hours, a library-rebuilding narrative game, both sold as one-time purchases across PC, mobile, and console storefronts, with The Lady Afterwards tabletop RPG and physical tarot decks and books extending the offering.

Product overview

Weather Factory is a two-person indie studio (Alexis Kennedy and Lottie Bevan) that creates experimental narrative games set in the Secret Histories universe. The core product portfolio includes Cultist Simulator (a BAFTA-nominated card-based cult simulation), Book of Hours (a library management narrative game), and the upcoming Travelling At Night (a Cold War-era CRPG). These games share the Secret Histories lore and feature interconnected characters, with Book of Hours serving as a spiritual successor exploring a different aspect of the universe. The studio also produces tabletop RPG content (The Lady Afterwards), merchandise including tarot decks (Tarot of the Hours, The Lucid Tarot), and published books of essays by Alexis Kennedy. Cultist Simulator launched in 2018 and was later expanded with multiple DLC packs and mobile ports, while Book of Hours released in 2023 after five years of development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cultist Simulator A double BAFTA-nominated roguelike narrative card game in which the player starts their own cult, crafts tools, summons spirits, and chooses between sane and insane victory conditions while avoiding destruction by inner demons or red powers; available across PC, mobile, and console with optional paid DLC expansions.
• Book of Hours A narrative game set in Hush House where the player acquires, studies, restores, and purifies occult books to rebuild a ruined library, defending the collection against storm, fire, theft, and theoplasmic assaults; localized into Simplified Chinese and accompanied by the HOUSE OF LIGHT expansion.
• The Lady Afterwards A tabletop roleplaying game set in 1920s Alexandria in which 2-8 players take on occult investigations using gamebooks, clues, character sheets, dice sets, and artefact handouts; offered as both a digital download and a physical boxed edition.
• Tarot of the Hours A 78-card tarocchi deck based on the traditional Rider-Waite tarot using the esoteric full-colour art of Cultist Simulator, sold as physical merchandise through the studio's Etsy storefront.
• The Lucid Tarot A reimagined tarot deck featuring Secret Histories lore with Hours represented in stained-glass-inspired aesthetics, containing Major Arcana in traditional Rider-Waite names alongside Minor Arcana using skills and companions from Book of Hours; sold through the Etsy storefront.
• Against Worldbuilding, and Other Provocations A collected volume of essays on video games by Alexis Kennedy, sold as physical merchandise through the studio's Etsy storefront.
• The Snare of the Tree, and Other Perilous Seductions A book of essays by Alexis Kennedy sold as physical merchandise through the studio's Etsy storefront.

Quantifiable outcome

• Double BAFTA nominations for Cultist Simulator
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• PlaydigiouscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2018Playdigious is a mobile development studio that ported Cultist Simulator to iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play). They handle ongoing mobile development and updates. The partnership enables Weather Factory to reach mobile audiences without internal mobile development capacity.
• Public Service Broadcasting (J. Willgoose, Esq.)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJ. Willgoose, Esq. from Public Service Broadcasting composed the complete soundtrack for Travelling At Night, comprising over 30 original compositions. The soundtrack is a major creative component of the game.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Compulsion Games: Indie studio behind We Happy Few and South of Midnight; comparable premium-narrative positioning with a small team and similar literary-art-direction sensibility.
• Chance Agency: Tiny independent narrative studio behind Neo Cab. Comparable scale, premium narrative indie positioning, and Steam-led distribution targeting overlapping literary-game audiences.

Direct peers

• Amanita Design: Czech micro-studio behind Machinarium and Creaks. Similar small-team, art-forward narrative adventure positioning with a global Steam-led distribution footprint.
• Harebrained Schemes: Boutique narrative and strategy studio (Shadowrun Returns, BattleTech, Necropolis). Similar premium-narrative positioning and small-team indie heritage targeting overlapping CRPG/narrative fans.
• Inkle Studios: UK-based narrative indie studio behind 80 Days, Heaven's Vault, and Overboard. Comparable size, focus on literary choice-driven games, and premium-pricing indie model targeting similar narrative-game enthusiasts.
• ZA/UM: Studio behind Disco Elysium, the most prominent recent premium narrative CRPG and explicit reference point for Travelling At Night. Competes for the same literary-RPG audience with a much larger team.
• Cardboard Computer: Two-person micro-studio behind Kentucky Route Zero and its 'interludes.' A near-perfect structural and stylistic match — a tiny team producing literary, episodic narrative works at Weather Factory's scale and cadence.
• Failbetter Games: Founded by Alexis Kennedy, creator of Fallen London and Sunless Sea. Direct antecedent to Weather Factory with the same narrative-Lovecraftian aesthetic and StoryNexus technology lineage; operates in the same niche with the same audience overlap.
• Supergiant Games: Small premium indie studio behind Hades, Bastion, and Pyre. Comparable in operating model (compact team, premium pricing, strong critical reputation) and competes in the narrative-driven indie segment.
• Die Gute Fabrik: Small narrative indie studio behind Mutazione and Sportsfriends. Comparable boutique scale, literary-art-driven design philosophy, and premium indie pricing model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@weatherfactory
• Facebookfacebook.com/factoryweather
• Xx.com/factoryweather

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Weather Factory