What Blindflug Studios does

Blindflug Studios AG is a privately held Swiss indie game studio founded in 2014 by Jeremy Spillmann and Moritz Zumbühl, headquartered in Zurich with a second studio in Poznań, Poland. The studio develops strategy and narrative games that center on real-world political and social dilemmas — its flagship title First Strike, a nuclear-war real-time strategy game, has been played by more than eleven million players, and its portfolio extends to Cloud Chasers (migration), Airheart (dieselpunk action), Stellar Commanders (an Apple Arcade launch title), (re)format Z: (stealth puzzle), Democratia (Swiss democracy simulation), Ground of Aces (WWII base building), and The Red Tape to Citizenship (naturalization companion game). Technology is built on Unity and Unreal Engine, with a proprietary virtual production workflow that combines game-engine rendering with motion capture (partnering with Quantum Stage in Winterthur) to deliver animated sequences for documentary film, as demonstrated in the 2024 Locarno Film Festival premiere of 'The Miraculous Transformation of the Working Class into Foreigners.' The studio has earned more than 50 international award nominations and prizes, including Best GDC Pitch and the German Developer Innovation Prize, and uses PlayFab for player authentication and data management.

The business operates two revenue streams: consumer game sales and licensing across Steam, Apple App Store, Google Play, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and Apple Arcade (one-time license model), and corporate gamification services delivered as custom game development for enterprise, government, NGO, and education clients including AXA, IKEA, Avenir Suisse, FinanceMission, the Swiss Anti-Doping Agency, the Swiss Pedestrian Associations, and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), priced under professional-services terms with 50% upfront invoicing on multi-year contracts in CHF. Distribution is product-led for consumer titles via major platforms and sales-led for corporate engagements, supplemented by direct outreach through 'Gamification & Games Lunch' sessions and speaking engagements at GDC, Devcom, and academic institutions. The studio is bootstrapped with no disclosed external funding, organizes the Transmedia Futures event series to bridge the Swiss games and film industries, and signals an active capital-raising posture via its 'Blindflug Future' investor newsletter.

Name

Blindflug Studios

Legal name

Blindflug Studios AG

Website

https://blindflugstudios.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Blindflug Studios is a Zurich-based indie game studio that develops award-winning strategy and narrative games centered on real-world dilemmas, and provides corporate gamification and Unreal Engine virtual production services to enterprise, government, and education clients across Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Indie Video Games

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (51321), Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Indie Game Studios (MPAFAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Strategy/4X/Management Game Studios (MPAFAAAK), Serious Games & Simulation Studios (Training, Defense, Enterprise) (MPAFAAAH)

Keywords

• Indie game development
• Corporate gamification services
• Virtual production animation
• Educational serious games
• Strategy video games

Headquarters

HQ city

Zürich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Game Sales and Licensing: Revenue from selling proprietary games (First Strike, Cloud Chasers, Airheart, Stellar Commanders, Ground of Aces) through digital distribution platforms. Includes premium game sales, platform exclusivity deals (Apple Arcade), and remastered versions.
2. Corporate Gamification Projects: Custom game development and gamification services for corporate clients including serious games for education, training, and marketing purposes. Projects include Finance Mission Heroes (financial literacy), Enter (IT security training), and Democratia (political education).
3. Film Animation Services: Virtual production animation services for documentary films using game engine technology. Collaboration with film production companies to create animated sequences using Unreal Engine and motion capture.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Blindflug Studios is an independent Swiss indie game studio that designs, develops, and publishes strategy and action games centered on complex real-world dilemmas (nuclear war, migration, democracy, citizenship). Beyond consumer game sales, the studio provides custom corporate gamification projects, educational games, and virtual production animation services using game engine technology such as Unreal Engine and motion capture.

Product overview

Blindflug Studios is an indie game studio offering a portfolio of strategy games centered on real-world dilemmas, along with corporate gamification services and virtual production for film. Their core game products include First Strike (nuclear war RTS with 11+ million players), Ground of Aces (WWII base building), Stellar Commanders (Apple Arcade multiplayer RTS), Airheart (dieselpunk action), Cloud Chasers (desert survival), Democratia (Swiss democracy simulation), and The Red Tape to Citizenship (naturalization test game). Corporate offerings include educational games for financial literacy (Finance Mission series), IT security training (Enter), and custom gamification services for businesses. The studio also provides 3D real-time production/virtual production services using Unreal Engine and organizes the Transmedia Futures event series bridging Swiss games and film industries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ground of Aces: WWII base building game featuring remote air base management
• First Strike
• First Strike: Classic
• Stellar Commanders
• Airheart
• (re)format Z:
• Cloud Chasers
• The Red Tape to Citizenship
• Democratia

Products and services

• Ground of Aces Base building simulation game set during WWII where players take command of a remote air base, managing workers, pilots, resources, technology progression, and RAF airfield customization. Targeted at strategy gamers on PC.
• First Strike Fast-paced nuclear war real-time strategy game in which players control one of twelve nuclear superpowers and compete to be the last remaining faction, with multiplayer support for up to 10 players. Available on Steam, Apple App Store, Google Play, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.
• First Strike: Classic Remastered edition of First Strike featuring a new codebase, improved AI behaviors, refreshed graphical user interface, and a new social hub for the fan community. Targeted at existing and returning strategy game players.
• Stellar Commanders Multiplayer real-time strategy game for Apple Arcade in which players compete 1v1 to control distant planets in an inter-galactic war for resources, with multiple factions and a roster of unlockable futuristic units. Targeted at Apple Arcade subscribers.
• Airheart Dieselpunk action game featuring airplane combat and exploration in a sky-bound world. Available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.
• (re)format Z: Cyberpunk stealth puzzle game set in dystopian Zurich in the year 2117 in which players navigate the city solving riddles to cause the fall of a totalitarian system.
• Cloud Chasers Desert survival journey game following a father and daughter team through a dystopian future, featuring glider-based exploration, resource management, and narrative encounters across five deserts.
• The Red Tape to Citizenship Interactive mobile game exploring the Swiss naturalization process through absurd test questions; serves as a companion piece to a documentary film about migration. Available on iOS and Android.
• Democratia Multiplayer strategy game for up to five players that simulates Swiss democracy on a Swiss-shaped island; players lead clans, vote on island development, and compete to realize different political utopias.
• Finance Mission Heroes Mobile educational game teaching children financial literacy through characters Dr Violetta's Robos and student heroes who protect school savings from cyber theft. Part of the Swiss-German school curriculum, developed with FinanceMission.
• Finance Mission World Gamified online course focused on basic financial literacy topics including budgeting, work, and spending. Digital learning course adapted to school curricula in Switzerland.
• Enter - IT Security Game Puzzle game testing players' awareness of digital security loopholes; players navigate stations collecting information to reach a corporate anniversary celebration and steal a diamond. Developed for the Swiss IT Leadership Forum.
• Born to Run Antidoping game set in a fictional International Roof Running League (IRRL) in which players compete in rooftop races while avoiding drug tests; features global and country rankings and a Wall of Shame for doped players.
• Seasons of Life Game simulating challenges of different life phases; players must guide characters through increasingly difficult levels to safe territory, with difficulty increasing throughout gameplay. Developed for AXA.
• Meet the Street Traffic safety game created with Swiss Pedestrian Associations in which players control traffic activities to help pedestrians safely cross intersections featuring various vehicles.
• The Miraculous Transformation of the Working Class into Foreigners Documentary film project for which Blindflug Studios produced approximately 30 minutes of 3D animation using Unreal Engine game technology, in collaboration with film production company Dschoint Ventschr and motion capture studio Quantum Stage.
• Gamification Services Corporate gamification offering including Gamification & Games Lunch sessions, Gamification Check-up workshops, Team Workshops for game design, Expert Lectures, Custom Game Development, and 3D Real-time Production Management using Unreal Engine. Targeted at organizations seeking gamification solutions.

Quantifiable outcome

• 11+ million players for First Strike game
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered supporting, core and minor.

• Swiss Embassy in PolandsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2021Co-organized Polish-Swiss Game Jam at GIC 2021 with topic of environmental sustainability. Embassy provided accommodation, transport, and financial support for the event celebrating 100-year anniversary of Swiss-Polish diplomatic relations.
• Dschoint VentschrcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFilm production company collaboration for documentary 'The Miraculous Transformation of the Working Class into Foreigners'. Blindflug Studios provided virtual production animation using Unreal Engine and motion capture. The film premiered at Locarno Film Festival 2024 and was released in September 2024.
• Quantum StagesupportingTechnology or IntegrationMotion capture studio in Winterthur that worked with Blindflug Studios for the documentary film project. Provided motion capture suits and technology for animating human characters in virtual production sequences.
• ZHAW (Zurich University of the Arts)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to develop 'Where Am I?' video game bringing Zurich closer to Ukrainian refugee children. ZHAW led the project with Blindflug Studios providing game development expertise. Funded by Digitalization Initiative of Zurich Higher Education Institutions (DIZH).
• Oneconsult AGminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCybersecurity company collaboration to create 'Rookie Red Team' party game for conference booth entertainment. Game taught IT security concepts through cooperative gameplay with red panda characters.
• Avenir SuissecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThink tank partnership to create 'Democratia – The Isle of Five' strategy game about Swiss democracy. Avenir Suisse provided political theoretical background while Blindflug handled game development.
• FinanceMissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to develop gamified financial literacy learning courses for Swiss-German schools. Blindflug developed Finance Mission Heroes and Finance Mission World educational games.
• Apple ArcadecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPlatform partnership for Stellar Commanders, Blindflug's first multiplayer strategy game and Apple Arcade launch title.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Simogo: Swedish indie studio with a similarly small team producing narrative-driven, atmospheric games (Year Walk, Device 6, Sayonara Wild Hearts). Highly comparable in scale, indie ethos, and award-winning thematic design.
• Playdead: Danish indie studio behind Limbo and Inside. Comparable in small-team indie model, distinctive artistic identity, and award-winning prestige within the European indie scene.
• SweetRush: US-based learning games and corporate gamification studio serving enterprise and government clients. Comparable to Blindflug's corporate gamification projects portfolio and B2B training market focus.
• Motion Twin: French indie developer and worker cooperative behind Dead Cells. Closely parallels Blindflug's bootstrapped, non-VC-backed, small-team indie model with sustained hit franchises.
• Amanita Design: Czech indie studio (Machinarium, Creaks, Samorost) known for artistically distinctive, hand-crafted games. Comparable in indie scale, artistic originality, and award-winning European studio profile.
• Supergiant Games: US-based small indie studio (Bastion, Hades, Transistor) with a similarly compact team producing critically acclaimed, narrative-rich titles. Closely parallels Blindflug's small-team/high-recognition model.
• 11 bit studios: Polish indie studio developing strategy and thematic games (Frostpunk, This War of Mine) that explore moral and political dilemmas. Closely matches Blindflug's strategy-plus-real-world-themes positioning and European indie pedigree.
• Ndemic Creations: UK-based indie developer of Plague Inc., a strategy game with millions of players exploring real-world themes (pandemics, geopolitics). Direct peer on strategy genre, real-world subject matter, and indie scale.
• Gamelearn: Spain-based corporate gamification and serious games vendor serving enterprise training use cases. Direct peer on the B2B gamification side of Blindflug's business, including learning and development deployments.

Broad incumbents

• Paradox Interactive: Swedish publisher/developer specializing in strategy and management games (Crusader Kings, Cities: Skylines). Broad incumbent with overlapping strategy genre focus, though operating at significantly larger scale with publishing infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BlindflugStudio
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/BlindflugstudiosAG
• Facebookfacebook.com/blindflugstudios
• Instagraminstagram.com/blindflugstudios
• TikToktiktok.com/@blindflugstudios
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blindflugstudios

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Blindflug Studios