Ruckus Games

Ruckus Games is a video game development studio based in Plano, Texas, working on a third-person, cooperative, session-based multiplayer shooter set in a 'suburban invasion' scenario. The company describes the project as a stylized co-op shooter combining explosive action, humor and unconventional weaponry, with the debut title publicly identified as The Holdouts, a multiplayer game in which players fight back, hold out and build a home in an altered reality. Press coverage referenced by the studio characterizes the project as a session-based suburban invasion game that blends RPG elements, crafting and town-building with shooter combat.

The studio states it was formed to create player experiences built around style, interactivity and emergence. Its stated operating principles include a developer-first structure in which founders work on the games alongside the team, a 32-hour minimum and 50-hour maximum work week intended to avoid crunch, an internal system for tracking quality and progress against defined cut-offs, and compensation through salary and benefits rather than deferred promises. Design strategy centers on immediate accessibility of fun, distinctive visual identity intended to be recognizable at a glance, broadly relatable characters, and player agency in both moment-to-moment gameplay and larger narrative choices.

The team is drawn from developers with backgrounds at Gearbox, Riot Games, Bethesda/ZeniMax Online, Epic Games, Blizzard, Monolith, Funcom and Ubisoft, with prior credits including Borderlands, The Elder Scrolls Online, Conan Exiles and Dune Awakening. CEO Paul Sage was previously creative director on Borderlands 3.

Founding story

Public sources report that Ruckus was founded in 2021 by alumni of Gearbox and Riot Games, and describe the studio as formed to create player experiences through style, interactivity and emergence, with founders who are themselves developers intending to work on the games alongside the rest of the team.

Business model

Ruckus Games develops original video games in-house, funded to date by venture and strategic investment, with its debut title targeted at PC via Steam.

Traction

Investors in the November 2024 Series A cited the team's progress with a small team over a short period. The studio ran early playtests under NDA and opened Steam wishlisting for The Holdouts in October 2025.

Latest developments

On October 16, 2025, Ruckus announced that The Holdouts, described as a multiplayer game about fighting back, holding out and building a home in a warped new reality, could be wishlisted on Steam. The studio continues to recruit players for successive remote playtests.