What The Wild Gentlemen does

The Wild Gentlemen is an independent game development studio headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, founded in 2018 by three friends. The studio employs 23 people, described as a mix of professional veterans and talented newcomers, and operates as a privately-held, founder-owned entity with no disclosed institutional backing. Its core activity is designing and publishing narrative-driven PC video games across multiple genres, all unified by a distinctive anthropomorphic animal aesthetic set in the fictional city of Clawville.

The studio's product portfolio includes two released titles and four announced projects. Chicken Police - Paint it RED!, released in November 2020, is a buddy-cop noir adventure that mixed classic adventure mechanics with visual novel-style storytelling and established the studio's critical reputation. Zipp's Café, released in November 2023, is a 'noir & chill' café simulation. Upcoming titles span tactical strategy (WILD Tactics), the Chicken Police sequel (Into the HIVE!), a murder mystery (Moses and Plato), and disco-punk space horror (RetroSpace). Each title has a dedicated official website and Steam storefront presence.

The business model is a one-time purchase license for PC games, distributed primarily through Steam with global reach and supported by per-title websites and a curated World of Wilderness portal. Target customers are individual PC gamers, particularly indie game enthusiasts and players who value artistic merit, noir storytelling, and unique art styles. There is no recurring revenue, subscription, or service component; the studio relies on discrete game launches and franchise development, with the Chicken Police IP serving as the established commercial anchor.

Name

The Wild Gentlemen

Legal name

The Wild Gentlemen

Website

https://thewildgentlemen.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Wild Gentlemen is a Budapest-based indie game studio (23 staff, founded 2018) that designs and publishes narrative-driven PC games through Steam, targeting indie game enthusiasts with noir adventures, strategy, horror, and simulation titles set in a shared animal-populated universe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Game Sales (Direct): One-time purchase revenue from PC game sales through Steam and official game websites, with each title sold as a standalone product at standard digital retail pricing
2. Marketplace Distribution: Revenue generated through Steam's digital marketplace distribution platform, reaching global PC gaming audience

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Wild Gentlemen is an independent game development studio that creates and sells narrative-driven video games across multiple genres, including noir adventure, tactical strategy, murder mystery, and space horror. Their games are sold as standalone digital products through the Steam marketplace and dedicated official websites, featuring distinctive anthropomorphic animal characters set in the fictional city of Clawville.

Product overview

The Wild Gentlemen is an independent game development studio that creates a portfolio of narrative-driven games across multiple genres. Their product lineup includes adventure games (CHICKEN POLICE series, CHICKEN POLICE 2 - INTO THE HIVE!), strategy games (WILD Tactics), mystery games (Moses and Plato), horror games (RetroSpace), and simulation games (Zipp's Café). The games share a distinctive animal-populated world set in the fictional city of Clawville and blend genres like noir, adventure, visual novel, and tactical strategy with unique art styles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CHICKEN POLICE - PAINT IT RED! A buddy-cop noir adventure game with a gritty story and absurd humor. The game mixes classic adventure games with visual novel-style storytelling, presented in a unique art style featuring anthropomorphic animal characters. Targeted at PC gamers interested in narrative-driven indie adventures.
• Zipp's Café A 'noir & chill' simulation game about a café between the city of animals and the district of insects. Players make unusual recipes, get involved in shady dealings, and try to start a new life while searching for love and revenge. Targeted at PC gamers interested in narrative-driven simulation experiences.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Pendulo Studios: Spanish indie studio known for Runaway and Yesterday point-and-click adventure games. Directly comparable to The Wild Gentlemen in narrative adventure genre, mature themes, and indie PC studio profile.
• Amanita Design: Czech indie studio behind Machinarium, Botanicula, and Creaks — narrative adventure games with distinctive hand-drawn art style. Comparable to The Wild Gentlemen in narrative focus, distinctive art direction, indie scale, and Central European origins.
• Daedalic Entertainment: Hamburg-based studio specializing in narrative adventure games (Deponia, The Lord of the Rings adventure series, Silence). Comparable to The Wild Gentlemen in target market (PC narrative adventure enthusiasts), genre focus (point-and-click/visual novel-style storytelling), and indie studio scale.
• Campo Santo: Small indie studio behind Firewatch and In the Valley of Gods — narrative adventure games with distinctive art direction. Highly comparable to The Wild Gentlemen in team size, narrative-first design, Steam distribution, and indie aesthetic.
• Night School Studio: Indie studio known for narrative-driven games (Oxenfree, Afterparty, Oxenfree II). Comparable in team size, narrative-first design philosophy, indie aesthetic, and PC-focused distribution to The Wild Gentlemen.
• Deck Nine Games: Studio behind Life is Strange: True Colors and Before the Storm — narrative adventure games with strong character-driven storytelling. Similar mid-size indie profile and PC platform presence to The Wild Gentlemen.
• Supergiant Games: Independent studio behind Bastion, Transistor, Hades, and Pyre — small team (similar to The Wild Gentlemen's 23-person headcount), critically acclaimed narrative games distributed primarily through Steam, with strong art-direction identity.
• Frogwares: Ukrainian indie studio best known for the Sherlock Holmes detective adventure series, which shares The Wild Gentlemen's noir detective narrative DNA. Both studios target PC gamers with story-driven adventure titles featuring mystery/investigation gameplay, making Frogwares the closest comparable on product and audience.

Broad incumbents

• Dontnod Entertainment: French studio behind Life is Strange and Tell Me Why — narrative-driven adventure games with strong cinematic storytelling. Larger and more established than The Wild Gentlemen, but operates in the same narrative adventure genre targeting the same PC/console gamer demographic.
• Telltale Games: Iconic narrative adventure studio (The Walking Dead, Tales from the Borderland, Wolf Among Us). Shares The Wild Gentlemen's narrative-first, choice-driven design philosophy and indie-leaning production model, even though Telltale operated at significantly larger scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-wild-gentlemen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 The Wild Gentlemen