What ice code games does

Ice Code Games S.A. is a Polish independent video game studio founded in 2017 and headquartered in Warsaw. The studio specializes in tactical, strategy, and roguelite games for PC, distributed primarily through Steam, with three shipped or announced titles: Hard West 2 (2022, supernatural Wild West tactical), Rogue Waters (tactical turn-based roguelite in a cursed pirate setting), and Nightmare Frontier (a tactical extraction looter announced in May 2025 for Early Access). Marketing and publishing on flagship titles are handled by Good Shepherd Entertainment, which has also committed funding for an additional unannounced strategy project codenamed 'Odysseus'. The company publicly lists on the Warsaw Stock Exchange's NewConnect alternative market under ticker ICG and operates with a lean 27-person team as of January 2025, predominantly contractors and B2B partners, all working remotely.

The studio's production process is differentiated by two proprietary AI systems. DEMIURG automates routine production tasks and is publicly presented by CEO/CTO Mateusz Pilski. SUPREMUS, an AI-driven game design project funded primarily by a PLN 9.5M EU SMART FENG grant (project value PLN 13.1M, completion targeted May 31, 2026), analyzes gameplay patterns to accelerate design iteration and testing. Together these tools underpin a 'human creativity plus machine efficiency' positioning that the company uses to explain why a small remote team can ship at the cadence of larger studios. The studio has also received Polish Ministry of Culture funding for prototype development.

The business model combines one-time-purchase video game sales on Steam with non-dilutive public grant funding for R&D. There is no disclosed subscription, freemium, or live-service monetization in current shipped titles, although Nightmare Frontier's Early Access model hints at a more iterative release cadence. Good Shepherd Entertainment functions as the primary publisher and channel partner for funded titles. In early 2025 the company conducted a Series J public offering (up to PLN 4.24M at PLN 0.10/share) to fund Nightmare Frontier development and Project Achilles preproduction, supplementing the 2022 conversion to S.A. and the 2023 EU grant. The company has not publicly disclosed revenue figures.

Name

ice code games

Legal name

Ice Code Games S.A.

Website

https://icecodegames.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ice Code Games is a Polish indie studio developing tactical, strategy, and roguelite PC games sold on Steam, including Hard West 2, Rogue Waters, and the upcoming extraction title Nightmare Frontier, published with Good Shepherd Entertainment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Video Game Development

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Strategy/4X/Management Game Studios (MPAFAAAK)

Keywords

• Tactical turn-based games
• Indie strategy games
• Roguelite video games
• PC game development
• AI-assisted game design

Headquarters

HQ city

Warsaw

HQ country

Poland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Video Game Sales: Sale of tactical and strategy video games through Steam platform, including Early Access releases and full game launches
2. European Grants: Government and EU funding for R&D projects including SMART FENG.01.01-IP.02-001/23/2023 for SUPREMUS project and Ministry of Culture video game support grant

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Ice Code Games is an independent Polish studio that develops and publishes tactical, strategy, and roguelite video games for PC, distributed primarily via Steam. Its released portfolio includes Hard West 2 (supernatural Wild West tactics) and Rogue Waters (pirate roguelite), with Nightmare Frontier (extraction looter) and Frightful Tales in active development. The studio employs proprietary AI systems — DEMIURG and SUPREMUS — to streamline asset generation and design workflows.

Product overview

Ice Code Games S.A. is a Polish video game studio specializing in tactical and strategy games. The company's portfolio includes three main titles: Hard West 2 (a supernatural wild west tactical game), Rogue Waters (a pirate-themed turn-based roguelite), and Nightmare Frontier (an upcoming tactical extraction game set in a horror-infested alternate 1900s). The studio operates a proprietary AI ecosystem comprising DEMIURG for production automation and SUPREMUS for gameplay pattern analysis. All team members work remotely, reflecting the company's modern development approach.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hard West 2 Tactical turn-based combat game set in a supernatural Wild West universe, targeting PC strategy and tactics enthusiasts via Steam.
• Rogue Waters Pirate-themed roguelite game featuring ship and crew management combat, released on Steam with a free After Dark expansion update.
• Nightmare Frontier Extraction looter game released into Steam Early Access in May 2025, targeting PC action and survival loot enthusiasts.
• Frightful Tales Horror game currently in development at Ice Code Games, not yet commercially released.

Quantifiable outcome

• Hard West 2 achieved 77% on Metacritic and 78% positive on Steam community
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Good Shepherd EntertainmentcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 21 April 2022Publisher partnership for Hard West 2 and new project 'Odysseus'. Good Shepherd provided increased budget for Hard West 2 after Closed Beta and WASD Expo feedback, and committed to funding the new 'Odysseus' strategy game project. Partnership described as a 'good fit' with years of collaboration.
• Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerShowcased Hard West 2 at Polish Pavilion during Gamescom 2022 in Cologne. Agency facilitated exhibition space for Polish game studios at international events.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CreativeForge Games: Polish indie studio that developed the original Hard West (2015), making it the closest historical and stylistic peer to Ice Code Games. Same tactical turn-based supernatural Western DNA, same Polish indie scale, and directly connected to Ice Code's flagship IP.
• Mimimi Games: German indie studio behind Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun and Desperados III, premium tactical/strategy PC games with strong critical reception. Closely comparable in team size, scope, and emphasis on tactical depth as a core differentiator.
• Harebrained Schemes: Independent US studio known for tactical turn-based titles like BattleTech and the modern Shadowrun Returns trilogy. Direct overlap in turn-based tactical combat design and PC-focused indie-to-mid-tier distribution model.
• Snapshot Games: Independent studio founded by Julian Gollop that developed Phoenix Point, a tactical turn-based strategy game with supernatural themes. Direct peer in turn-based tactical gameplay combined with strategy/roguelite elements.

Regional players

• 11 bit studios: Polish publicly listed game developer (Frostpunk, This War of Mine) of comparable origin country and public-market status. Comparable in narrative-driven strategy/tactical positioning, but at significantly larger scale and broader commercial reach.
• Techland: Major Polish game studio (Dying Light, Dead Island) operating from Wrocław. Comparable as a Polish game development peer with public-market experience, though operating at significantly larger scale and in action rather than tactical genres.
• Yager Development: Independent German game studio known for Spec Ops: The Line and Dreadnought. Comparable in mid-sized independent European studio positioning and willingness to back niche genres with proprietary technology, though operating in different genre verticals.

Broad incumbents

• Slitherine: Established publisher and developer specializing in strategy and wargames (Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, Panzer Corps). Directly comparable genre focus (tactical/strategy PC games) with a broader catalog and publisher-of-record role for many indie tactical titles.
• Paradox Interactive: Global strategy-game specialist behind Civilization-style 4X and grand strategy franchises. Comparable only at the genre level, but represents the dominant commercial ceiling for tactical/strategy PC games and the primary competitive benchmark for genre-aware publishers like Good Shepherd.
• Creative Assembly: Long-established developer of the Total War franchise, the AAA benchmark for turn-based strategy on PC. Represents a much larger competitive benchmark in tactical/strategy games, illustrating both the genre's commercial ceiling and the indie niche Ice Code occupies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/icecodegames
• Xx.com/IceCodeGames
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ice-code-games

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about ice code games