What Those Awesome Guys does

Those Awesome Guys is a privately-held, founder-controlled indie game development and publishing studio headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, with a distributed team of roughly 11-50 people. The company operates a dual model: it develops and self-publishes its own games (Move or Die, 2016) while simultaneously acting as an external publisher for third-party indie developers, providing end-to-end services including game design, UI/UX, sound design, QA, visual art production, community management across Twitter, Reddit, Discord and TikTok, and influencer marketing coverage.

Its catalog spans party games, dating sims (Monster Prom, published 2018 in partnership with Beautiful Glitch), roguelite card battlers (Deepest Chamber: Resurrection, 2023, with Balcony Softworks), N64-style collectathon platformers (Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom, April 2024, with Panik Arcade), and climbing simulators (Valley Peaks, 2024, with Tub Club). Games are distributed globally as one-time license purchases through Steam, PlayStation Store, Nintendo Switch eShop, Xbox Store, Epic Games Store, and a direct website storefront. There are no subscription tiers, no recurring revenue products, and no disclosed pricing model beyond per-storefront pricing set by the company.

The business model is built on two revenue streams: (1) consumer game sales through major digital marketplaces, and (2) B2B publishing services for indie studios, supported by a pre-launch community-acquisition funnel (bit.ly/TAGTeamAwesome) and a multi-channel social presence. There is no disclosed funding, no parent company, no institutional investors, and no revenue figures available. The studio self-describes as 'fiercely independent,' and ownership appears concentrated with founder Nicolae (Xelu) Berbece.

Name

Those Awesome Guys

Legal name

Those Awesome Guys LLC

Website

https://thoseawesomeguys.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Those Awesome Guys is a privately-held Romanian indie game studio that develops and self-publishes its own titles while offering publishing services — including design, QA, art, and community management — to external indie developers for distribution across Steam, PlayStation, Nintendo, Xbox, and Epic storefronts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Indie Video Games

akta.pro primary industry

Indie Game Studios (MPAFAAAC)

Keywords

• Indie game development
• Game publishing services
• Video game studio
• Multiplayer party games
• Indie game publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Bucharest

HQ country

Romania

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Game Sales: Revenue generated from selling published games across multiple digital distribution platforms including Steam, PlayStation Store, Nintendo Switch eShop, Xbox Store, and Epic Games Store.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Those Awesome Guys is an independent game development and publishing studio that develops its own video games (party games, dating sims, roguelite card battlers, climbing simulators) and publishes games developed by external indie studios. In addition to in-house development, the company offers publishing services to indie developers including game design, UI/UX, sound design, QA, visual art production, community management across Twitter/Reddit/Discord/TikTok, and influencer marketing coverage.

Product overview

Those Awesome Guys is a fiercely independent game development and publishing studio comprising people from around the world. Their portfolio includes both self-developed and published games, featuring a mix of party games (Move or Die), narrative games (Monster Prom), roguelites (Deepest Chamber: Resurrection), and platformers (Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom, Valley Peaks). The company also maintains a catalog of legacy Flash games and experimental projects. Their publishing arm provides indie developers with Game Design, UI/UX, Sound Design, QA, visual art, and community management services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Move or Die An absurdly fast-paced, 4-player local and online party game where the mechanics change every 20 seconds, designed as a friendship-ruining party game for consumers.
• Monster Prom A competitive multiplayer (1-4 players) dating sim where players have 3 weeks to get a date, featuring art, bold dialogue, and absurd situations.
• Deepest Chamber: Resurrection A roguelite card battler where players rally their party, build their deck, and descend into perilous depths to slay enemies and protect allies.
• Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom A vibrant retro N64-era collectathon platformer with hand-crafted worlds and advanced move-set navigation without a jump button.
• Valley Peaks A wholesome first-person climbing simulation game featuring routes of varying difficulty, obstacle overcoming, upgrades, and interaction with amphibian inhabitants.
• Publishing Services Comprehensive publishing support for indie developers including Game Design, UI/UX, Sound Design, QA testing, visual art production, community management across Twitter, Reddit, Discord, and TikTok, and influencer marketing coverage, with emphasis on polish.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Beautiful GlitchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBeautiful Glitch is the developer of Monster Prom, a competitive dating sim published by Those Awesome Guys. The partnership involves Those Awesome Guys handling publishing duties while Beautiful Glitch focuses on development.
• Panik ArcadecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPanik Arcade developed Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom, published by Those Awesome Guys. The game is described as a love letter to the N64 era of collectathons and was released on April 9th, 2024.
• Balcony SoftworkscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBalcony Softworks developed Deepest Chamber: Resurrection, a roguelite card battler published by Those Awesome Guys. Released October 24th, 2023 on Steam and Epic Games Store.
• Tub ClubcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTub Club developed Valley Peaks, a first-person climbing simulator published by Those Awesome Guys. Released in 2024 on Steam.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Fellow Traveller: Independent publisher specializing in narrative and unconventional indie games. Comparable in curating external developers and providing multi-platform publishing support at a similar scale.
• tinyBuild: Indie developer and publisher with a portfolio of externally and internally produced games across PC and consoles. Comparable in dual developer/publisher model and exposure to party, simulation, and roguelike genres.
• Raw Fury: Independent game publisher working with small external studios to release titles across PC and consoles. Closely comparable in portfolio diversity, partnership model, and mid-size indie scope.
• Dear Villagers: Independent publisher of PC and console indie games developed by external studios. Comparable in supporting small developers with publishing services and multi-platform launches.
• Finji: Indie developer and publisher (Night in the Woods, Tunic) with a hybrid in-house and external publishing model. Comparable in scope, audience focus, and multi-platform indie strategy.
• Annapurna Interactive: Indie-focused publisher known for curated, narrative and experimental titles. Comparable as a publishing counterpart serving external developers with marketing and platform support, though backed by a larger parent entity.
• Devolver Digital: Premier indie game publisher with a portfolio spanning party, roguelite, and narrative titles across PC and consoles. The most direct comparable in the indie publishing business model, though significantly larger in scale and capitalization.
• Armor Games Studios: Publishing arm of Armor Games, focused on indie titles from small external teams with multi-platform distribution. Comparable in working with indie developers on porting, marketing, and community management.
• Humble Games: Publishing arm of Humble Bundle focused on indie titles across genres, supporting external developers with marketing, QA, and platform launches. Directly comparable publishing services offering.
• Team17: Long-standing indie publisher and developer (Worms franchise) with a catalog of externally developed titles across Steam, Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox. Directly comparable in multi-platform indie publishing and self-development hybrid model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/someawesomeguys
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCG58a6GgIu3z-NlTeDetXuA
• TikToktiktok.com/@thoseawesomeguys
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/those-awesome-guys

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Those Awesome Guys