What The Astronauts does

The Astronauts is a small, privately-held independent game development studio headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, founded in 2013 by Adrian Chmielarz and other developers previously responsible for Painkiller and Bulletstorm. The studio operates with a team of approximately 24-26 people (up from an original 12) and self-funds operations through game revenue, with no disclosed institutional investment, parent company, or public listing.

The studio's product portfolio comprises two games. Its first release, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (2014), is a weird-fiction mystery adventure that won a BAFTA and sold over one million copies across PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Its current focus is Witchfire, a dark fantasy first-person shooter combining soulslike RPG mechanics, build customization, and extraction-style tension; Witchfire entered Steam and Epic Games Store Early Access in September 2023 and has shipped iterative major content updates (Webgrave in July 2025, The Reckoning in December 2025, with Revelations 0.9 scheduled for June 2026) en route to a final 1.0 release planned for the second half of 2026. The game is built on Unreal Engine 4 and centers on proprietary systems including Gnosis (dynamic difficulty tied to player progression), World Corruption (a destabilizing world-response mechanic), Workshop 2.0 (player-customizable research), and The Rosary (build-specialization beads). Cross-storefront features include Steam Deck verification and cross-compatible saves between Steam and Epic.

Commercially, The Astronauts runs a pure one-time-purchase digital distribution model on Steam and Epic Games Store with no subscription, microtransaction, or live-service monetization; the only stated price signal is periodic ~20% sale discounting with no planned list-price increase at 1.0. Distribution is exclusively self-serve/PLG, with no paid advertising observed — marketing is driven by an owned community on Discord, Reddit, Steam forums, X, Instagram, BlueSky, and Facebook, supplemented by dev-diary content marketing and earned media (PC Gamer cover, Dec 2025). The company's primary customer segment is hardcore PC gamers in pursuit of skill-rewarding single-player experiences, with secondary segments of Early Access enthusiasts and legacy fans of the founders' prior work; consumer base is highly fragmented across >500K individual Witchfire purchasers and >1M Ethan Carter purchasers. Console distribution and a 14-language localization rollout (added in 0.9) are the principal in-flight footprint-expansion vectors.

Name

The Astronauts

Legal name

The Astronauts

Website

https://theastronauts.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Astronauts is a Warsaw-based independent game studio founded in 2013 that builds dark fantasy and adventure video games, currently developing Witchfire (a soulslike extraction FPS in Early Access) for global PC distribution via Steam and Epic Games Store.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Warszawa

HQ country

Poland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Game Sales: One-time purchase revenue from selling Witchfire on Steam and Epic Games Store. No planned price change between Early Access and final release. Game available at discount during sales events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Astronauts is a small independent game development studio that designs, develops, and publishes premium single-player video games. Its primary offering is Witchfire, a dark fantasy RPG first-person shooter sold as a one-time purchase on Steam and Epic Games Store, currently in Early Access. The studio also maintains a legacy title, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, a BAFTA-winning weird fiction mystery game available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Product overview

The Astronauts is a small independent game developer based in Warsaw, Poland, with a portfolio of two games. The primary product is Witchfire, a dark fantasy RPG first-person shooter currently in Early Access on Steam and Epic Games Store. Witchfire incorporates RPG elements (character progression, builds, stats, Gnosis system), extraction-style gameplay mechanics, and features major content updates including the Webgrave update (adding the Velmorne/Blighted Town region and Workshop 2.0), The Reckoning update (adding melee weapons, Torments, Surges, Velmorne Vault), and the upcoming Revelations update (adding Marshland map, World Corruption 2.0, translations). The studio's legacy title is The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, a BAFTA-winning mystery game that sold over one million copies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Witchfire A dark fantasy RPG first-person shooter set in an alternative world where witches are real and dangerous. Players take on the role of a preyer—an undead witch hunter—on a mission to find an artifact that could change the war between the Church and the witches. Features RPG elements including character progression, build customization, weapons, spells, and extraction-style gameplay. Sold as a one-time purchase on Steam and Epic Games Store.
• The Vanishing of Ethan Carter The studio's first game—a weird fiction mystery title that won awards including BAFTA and sold over one million copies. Available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

Quantifiable outcome

• Witchfire reached 500,000 sales milestone during Early Access
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• PC GamermajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 December 2025Gaming magazine that featured Witchfire on the cover of their newest issue with an in-depth interview, providing significant media exposure.
• Nick AdderleycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 October 2025US-based writer brought on to write Witchfire's story and narrative content. Has worked on Fallout: Miami and Ken Levine's Judas, bringing expertise in interactive narratives and rich world-building.
• The Monster FactoryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVoice talent agency specializing in extreme vocal techniques. Collaborates with The Astronauts to create the horrific voices of Witchfire's enemies using real people behind the soundbites.
• World-Class Localization SpecialistscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessional localization team hired to translate Witchfire into 14 languages including Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
• Todor HristovminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtist on ArtStation who created teaser artwork that may be hinting at future Witchfire content.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• FromSoftware: Japanese developer and the genre-defining soulslike incumbent (Dark Souls, Elden Ring). Sets the design and quality benchmark The Astronauts are implicitly competing against in the soulslike category.
• Bungie: Veteran FPS developer behind Destiny and the upcoming extraction shooter Marathon. Directly relevant as a high-profile competitor entering the extraction-shooter space where Witchfire operates.

Regional players

• Techland: Polish game developer (Dying Light, Call of Juarez) based in Wrocław. Comparable as a fellow Polish self-publishing FPS studio, sharing regional talent pool and operating-cost dynamics.
• 11 bit studios: Polish indie studio (Frostpunk, This War of Mine) publicly listed on the WSE. Comparable as a Warsaw-region Polish developer with a similar self-publishing, single-IP-driven growth profile.
• Flying Wild Hog: Polish developer of the Shadow Warrior series, an Unreal-Engine FPS franchise. Comparable as a Polish FPS specialist using similar tech stack and targeting shooter fans.

Emerging players

• Stunlock Studios: Swedish indie AA studio behind V Rising, an early-access survival ARPG. Comparable on small-team Unreal-Engine title launched via Early Access with strong community-driven iteration.

Direct peers

• Arrowhead Game Studios: Swedish indie AA studio behind Helldivers 2, a peer in scale (~100 staff, self-publishing) and model (Unreal Engine, gameplay-led co-op/combat shooter). The most relevant recent comparable for Witchfire's ambition-vs-team-size tradeoff.
• Coffee Stain Studios: Swedish indie AA developer of Deep Rock Galactic, a self-published co-op shooter. Comparable on indie-AA shooter publishing, community-driven live development, and Steam-led distribution.
• A44 Games: Small indie studio behind Ashen, a soulslike action RPG. Closest direct comparable on genre (soulslike combat), team scale, and Unreal Engine-driven single-product focus.
• Neowiz (Roundhouse Studio): Korean publisher/developer behind Darkest Dungeon, a defining indie soulslike-RPG. Comparable on targeting hardcore players, deep build systems, and small-team RPG design.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/TheAstroCrew
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheAstroCrew
• Instagraminstagram.com/theastrocrew
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-astronauts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 The Astronauts