Renegade Kid has been one of the most recognisable names on the Nintendo download scene in this generation, and before that was notable for jumping into the retail space on DS. Its biggest hits have included the likes of Mutant Mudds and Dementium: The Ward, earning a loyal group of fans through its releases on the eShop stores in particular.
After a decade, however, the studio is no more. Co-founders Jools Watsham and Gregg Hargrove have decided to form their own studios, and in the process have divided the Renegade Kid properties between their new buinesses - Atooi and Infitizmo; Watsham previously released Totes the Goat on iOS through the Atooi name.
The press release confirming this news is below.
Renegade Kid has announced that its co-founders, Jools Watsham and Gregg Hargrove, have made the difficult decision to bring their 10-year partnership of developing games together as Renegade Kid LLC to an end.
With their friendship and respect for each other still very much intact, Watsham and Hargrove will continue developing videogames under the names of their new companies: Atooi and Infitizmo.
The award-winning library of Intellectual Properties that Renegade Kid has created over the past decade will be finding new homes. All of Renegade Kid's "2D" games, including the Mutant Mudds series and Treasurenauts, will become the property of Atooi. All of Renegade Kid's "3D" games, including the Dementium series and Moon Chronicles, will become the property of Infitizmo.
We hope you will share in the excitement that both Jools and Gregg feel for their new journeys. You can follow their progress on twitter: @AtooiLLC and @InfitizmoLLC.
It's undoubtedly a shame to see such a recognisable studio come to an end, though evidently both Watsham and Hargrove are ready to move in different directions.
Stay tuned to Nintendo Life as we have an interview with both Watsham and Hargrove that'll be published later today, in which we discuss the closure of Renegade Kid and talk over their next steps.
Comments 51
BOO!!! i have loved every renegade kid game i played. they put out some gems.
Wow, this is surprising. Still gotta do what you love. Obviously these guys have different ideas for the future!
This decision hints at internal problems and, considering how they've split the IPs, creative differences. I'm sure it's for the best.
Looking forward to whatever these new studios put out next.
they ended well, and on their own terms. can't ask for much more than that. props to them.
The headline for this made me worry for a sec that the Dementium 2 Remastered release was no more, but it sounds like that's not the case! If anything it seems this will allow them to focus more attention on more titles in the future, which I fully support. These guys are talented.
I enjoy following Jools on twitter and I wish him and Gregg the best of luck in their new endeavors.
Stupid new names; they don't have that edgy ring to it that Renegade Kid does have. Marketing is half of your sales power. (and figures)
Atooi sounds like someone sneezing (or trying to say "Kazooie") with a cleft lip, and the other one is just empty blurb...
A shame really, I liked their games and their brand.
Whoa. This is kind of unexpected.
Huh...
Straight up sucks.
Then again if my "partner" was releasing games under a different banner I'd probably want to split too.
Truth is: I never played a good game from them. Probably my favorite is Xeodrifter because of all the Metroid references, but it's a short, lackluster and overpriced game.
Mutant Mudds is like the absolute buyer's remorse for me, and I'm the kind of person who loves current "retro" platformers to death such as Shovel Knight, Cave Story and Mighty Gunvolt.
I bought "Bomb Monkey" at launch... and I want a sequel!
And the good news is that "Treasurenauts" isn't dead. \o/
This doesn’t suprise me at all. Their Creative differences have been apparent ever since Mutant Mudds Super Challenge was announced.
It would be an usual sad news this one. But I'm in hope this happened for the better!
I love Renegade Kid, but have to admit they weren't all that great lately, specially when compared to their glory days on DS and the early years of eShop. And their latest releases were followed by poor sales complaints by Watsham - something unfortunate as a fact and as a developer behavior - so this showed the studio was struggling to carry on.
One single studio is now two different new enterprises and this may be a great thing since each one will have their focus on different concepts.
May they bring back their awesomeness with new ideas and a new IP beyond the too much delayed Treasurenauts!
Best of luck to both companies.
That was surprising. I wonder how Gregg's studio will perform. Jools was always the one who got all the attention in media. I'll definitely keep my eyes on both of the studios!
I hope this doesn't delay Treasurenauts...
I am saddened that one of my favorite companies is no more, but I am looking forward to these two new companies and what they can do.
"Friendship intact"?
So why split?
Atooi. Wonderful. Now where's Treasurenauts?
Why not split in two branches and still retain the name? (Also treasurenauts)
From the sound of it one person prefered to make 2D games, while the other prefers 3D games. A pity that they couldn't find a compromise, so that they could stay together.
I certainly have enjoyed almost every game they've put on the eShop. Heck, Mutant Mudds was probably my first eShop purchase. Its a shame that they split. I anxiously await the future projects of Watsham and Hargrove. Hopefully each will have something great to offer NX.
@RCMADIAX They recently offered to port Sonic Mania to the 3DS. Maybe that's what will happen?
@gamerguy2356
Oooo that would be awesome.
So will they still be releasing Dementium 2 on the 3ds?
I just hope that they manage to release Treasurenauts already.
@RCMADIAX Project 2017 is being made for the NX and they kept that under wraps. Also, I'm pretty sure they have their hands full with PS4, Xbox One, and PC. So it's a possibility.....one that I hope happens.
I'm one of those people who still get excited at the prospect of Treasurenauts, ha. Glad to hear it remains alive.
Maybe Jools can now focus all his energy and attention into finishing it!
It is sad that a fantastic studio had to plit up. But good things come from things splitting up: my cells had split up, and now Sophia is born.
Aww man that is ashame no more RK but at least both guys will still be making games tho.
Not a shock. I follow Jools on Twitter and you could tell by his tone in the last 18 months or so things were not going well.
It's really sad that an Indy dev that loved Nintendo and provided good games did not receive enough support to survive from Nintendo fans.
I own 4 or 5 of their games, all good stuff. Still waiting on Treasurenauts and do need to pick up the Mutant Mudds sequel eventually (backlog is so bad right now).
Bummer. I despise their bland 2D games and have long wanted them to go back to capitalise on the promise they showed with their earlier 3D games. Those too had issues, especially in presentation, but they were far more interesting and enjoyable on a fundamental level.
If this split leads to at least one of the studios resuming that trend then this may be for the best. RK's skill were largely wasted making mediocre 2D games during a time all markets are saturated with quality platformers. If taking those 2D games to mobile was their plan, then I believe they were in big trouble as I see no means by which their games would stand out in that marketplace, with a litany of far superior platformers available for free.
Anyway, here's hoping Infitizmo can finally get the remastered Dementium 2 to market, at least. Though it'll be a shame if we never see any original 3D projects from them again...
This almost feels like the game industry equivalent to a divorce...maybe not as soul-crushing to the children, but that's the vibe I'm getting...
Haven't played many Renegade games but I do respect them as a studio. I friggin love Mutant Mudds as well!
I think this is for the best. This way both developers can put more focus into the games they love.
Dementium II was excellent, there's no denying that.
Totally forgot I had Moon from the Humble Bundle, the bad controls made it difficult to play. Wonder if it plays better/has more options on the new system.
Treasurenauts? Wow, I forgot that was a thing. Well both houses will have feathers from Renegade Kid's cap. Moon and Mutant Mudds come to mind.
Shocking news, never ever expected to here that such a thing would happen to RK. Lot of the old guard falling lately, we've seen Two Tribes go...man...kinda sucks. At least there still going to put out games, even if both the new names aren't very good (They'll grow on me...in time)
Dementium 1, 2, Moon, Mutant Mudds, Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge, Xeorifter, I've played them all, and I enjoyed every single game. I'm just wondering how are they going to do separated...
@rushiosan Couldn't agree more. They just lack a certain something to make their games more than mediocre. Not sure what. An imaginative spark, perhaps? I felt precisely the same about Mudds as well, especially with all the good things I'd read heading into it. They make perfectly adequate indie games, and in today's market, even on Nintendo systems, it's just not good enough.
First 5th Cell--the makers of Scribblenauts--and now this. Apparently if your mascot is a boy named Maxwell, you're destined to fail as a video game company.
@rushiosan Real talk, I feel the same way. It sucks that the studio is being split but this news won't change my opinion on their games. I don't think that they've ever made a truly good game. I bought Xeodrifter on sale because I was worried about the length, only to find out that I didn't even care that much about how short it was due to how tedious and monotonous the gameplay was. Fighting the same boss 4+ times was a terrible decision. In addition your gun felt awful even with max upgrades.
By far the most disappointing one was Mutant Mudds for me as well. I was so excited for it until I played the demo. It felt off and pretty bland. It didn't impress me at all. Against my better judgement I bought it on sale and hated it from the get-go. No checkpoints, way too many blind jumps and enemies that felt like they were designed to waste your time (At least in the original version before they added checkpoints in deluxe). I get what they were going for (old school nes difficulty) but even nes games like Megaman and Castle-freaking-vania would give you checkpoints. For me it crossed the line from being genuinely challenging to being frustrating.
Ugh, that really sucks. Guess we will not be seeing Treasurenauts!
Edit: Looks like Atooi is going to be brining out Treasurenauts in 2017.
Too bad, but hey, now we got two studios to get great games from instead of one. I wish those guys all the best.
Hopefully it works out well. I honestly only care about the 2D games so i hope this means i get more of them since they won't be splitting time on developing 3D titles. Good luck to both of them.
If it lets them keep making games, great. If it keeps Watsham from moaning about bad sales although half their games aren't available in Europe, even better.
All I want to know that will this new setup of two companies make them release games in Europe or not?
I'm STILL waiting for Moon Chronicles.
Also Treasurenauts, does that game even exist? It seems like a distant vaporware dream.
I guess they don't get on. No point in staying together if that's the case.
The 2D and 3D sides of the company were producing completely different games, so I'm not overly surprised that they would opt to officially divide the two. This would also make it easier for them to collaborate with other companies without being held back by their counterpart.
I wish them luck, but the only game of theirs I liked was Mutant Mudds and even that was more for the art style. Xeodrifter (as has been mentioned) was very short and overpriced for what it was and Moon Chronicless (which didn't make it over here to Europe anyway) should NEVER have been episodic, that kind of approach barely ever works for anything that isn't a Telltale point and click adventure.
Still, onwards and upwards. Hopefully one of the 2 new studios will have a hit on it's hands
Good night and good luck.
Any hope of a moon chronicles release in the UK now? I doubt it, but I'd buy it in a second.
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