Theorycraft Games
Los Angeles, US · Founded 2020 · 37 employees on LinkedIn · 6 known investors
Theorycraft Games is a game studio building competitive multiplayer and player-focused games, led by veterans from major franchises including League of Legends, VALORANT, Overwatch, and Diablo.
Also known as Theorycraft
Founders & leadership
Theorycraft Games was founded in 2020 by Joe Tung and Moby Francke.
Investors · 6
Also in the syndicate · 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Theorycraft Games is an independent video game studio founded in 2020 by developers who previously worked at Blizzard, Riot Games, Bungie and Valve. The founding group comprised CEO Joe Tung (former executive vice president of League of Legends and executive producer on Destiny and Halo), chief creative officer Mike Tipul (former creative director at Bungie), chief technology officer Michael Evans (former tech lead on Valorant, Overwatch and Halo), chief operating officer Areeb Pirani (former global revenue and finance lead for the League of Legends franchise), and art director Moby Francke (former art director on Valorant, League of Legends, Dota 2 and Team Fortress 2). At the time of its first funding announcement the studio had six employees and operated from Seattle and Los Angeles.
The studio's stated approach is to build deep, long-session competitive multiplayer games playable with friends, developed by small autonomous teams and shaped by continuous community feedback and public playtesting. Its first title, developed under the codename Loki and described as a "competitive, team-based adventure," launched as SUPERVIVE, a top-down battle royale built in Unreal Engine 5 that blends battle royale, MOBA and hero-shooter elements. SUPERVIVE entered early access on November 20, 2024 and was both developed and published by Theorycraft.
In December 2025 the studio announced that SUPERVIVE would shut down in early 2026, citing weak player retention and the cost of sustaining the game; executive producer Jessica Nam said the studio would continue adding content until the closure date and would refocus on a new direction of high-quality, sharply focused games positioned between indie and triple-A scale.
Founding story
Joe Tung left Bungie in 2013 to work on League of Legends at Riot Games, then left Riot in October (prior to the studio's 2021 funding announcement) to start his own company, describing building something from scratch as "the last frontier" after working on large franchises. He assembled a founding team from Riot, Bungie, Blizzard and Valve that had contributed to League of Legends, Halo, Destiny, Overwatch, Valorant and Team Fortress 2. The founders said they left large studios to return to hands-on development with small teams of player-centered developers.
Business model
Theorycraft develops and self-publishes its own games. SUPERVIVE was released on PC via Steam as a live-service, community-driven multiplayer title that the studio operated post-launch, with the stated intent of serving players regardless of platform, location, or how much money they can spend.
Traction
SUPERVIVE grew from a small Discord playtesting community to more than two million global players with an 85% positive Steam rating, and peaked at 50,000 concurrent players around November 2024. By December 2025 concurrent player numbers had fallen sharply, prompting the announced shutdown.
Latest developments
In December 2025 Theorycraft announced SUPERVIVE would shut down in early 2026, with an exact date not yet set and content updates continuing until then. The studio said its next game will differ substantially from SUPERVIVE and will be a more sharply focused title between indie and triple-A scope; its website states it is currently working on its next game.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
An independent, venture-backed studio competing in the competitive multiplayer/live-service space against established titles from Riot, Blizzard and other large publishers; after SUPERVIVE's closure it stated it would target games positioned between indie and triple-A scale.
The studio emphasizes small, high-autonomy teams over large development organizations, citing Supercell's 12-person product teams as inspiration, and states that constraints and reduced coordination overhead drive creative focus. It positions itself on founder pedigree across League of Legends, Valorant, Overwatch, Destiny, Halo and Team Fortress 2, and on a player-first, community-driven development process rather than sequels or trend-following.
Technology
SUPERVIVE was built on Unreal Engine 5. The studio has stated its games are designed to be natively multiplatform and cross-platform where possible.
Go-to-market
The studio developed publicly, building a playtesting community on Discord, showing early prototypes to streamers and outside players, and gathering continuous community feedback before releasing SUPERVIVE into early access on Steam.
Players of deep, competitive, team-based multiplayer games; SUPERVIVE was aimed at battle royale audiences as well as MOBA and hero-shooter players.
Geography
Headquartered in Los Angeles, with the early team also based in Seattle; the studio has said it is open to hiring remote staff and serves a global player base.
History
Theorycraft Games was founded in 2020. It disclosed a $37.5 million Series A led by NetEase in 2021, when the team numbered six people across Seattle and Los Angeles and had a prototype it was showing to streamers roughly five months into development. In 2022 it announced a $50 million Series B led by Makers Fund to accelerate development of its first game, codenamed Loki, and to expand hiring; the studio also recruited former League of Legends game/design lead Jon Belliss and lead game systems designer Andrew Yip. Its first title, SUPERVIVE, entered early access on November 20, 2024. In December 2025 the studio announced SUPERVIVE would be shut down in early 2026 and that it was moving on to a new project.
Risks & controversies
SUPERVIVE failed to sustain its player base after a strong beta and launch period, with executive producer Jessica Nam attributing the shutdown to poor player retention and the difficulty of attracting new players, alongside the cost of operating the game. The closure illustrates the studio's exposure to the high failure rate of live-service titles.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 4
by search overlapCompanies competing with Theorycraft Games for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsThe studio announced SUPERVIVE would close in early 2026 due to poor player retention and the cost of sustaining the game; no exact date was given and content updates continue until closure, while the studio pivots to a new project.
SUPERVIVE, a top-down battle royale with MOBA and hero-shooter elements built in Unreal Engine 5, entered early access, developed and published by Theorycraft Games.
An additional $50 million round, with participation from NEA and a16z, earmarked for development and talent acquisition on the studio's first game, codenamed Loki.
$50M source ↗
Jon Belliss, previously a game/design lead for League of Legends at Riot Games after more than a decade there, joined the studio; lead game systems designer Andrew Yip was also hired.
Theorycraft Games raised $37.5 million to build a community-driven, multiplatform competitive PvP game, with participation from NEA, Bitkraft Ventures, Griffin Gaming Partners, Sisu Game Ventures and strategic angel investors.
$37.5M source ↗
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Theorycraft Gamestheorycraftgames.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Theorycraft Games do?
- Game studio founded in 2020 by Blizzard, Riot, Bungie and Valve veterans; developer of the multiplayer title SUPERVIVE.
- Who founded Theorycraft Games?
- Theorycraft Games was founded by Joe Tung, Moby Francke in 2020.
- Who are Theorycraft Games's investors?
- Theorycraft Games's investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Makers Fund, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Sisu Game Ventures.
- Where is Theorycraft Games headquartered?
- Theorycraft Games is headquartered in Los Angeles, US.