adminThe Firefly publishing label, WuselFaktory, is bringing the Stronghold developer into third-party game publishing. Its first release is Fool King, a tactical autobattler with roguelike elements from first-time developer Loot Donkey. Firefly plans to offer funding, marketing and development guidance, drawing on decades of experience making strategy games.
Image credit: WuselFaktory
How the Firefly publishing label will support strategy developers
Firefly is financing Fool King and helping with its marketing. Devolver, Firefly’s parent company, has also supplied a producer to support localisation and quality assurance. In future, Firefly hopes to handle more of this work with its own 50-person team.
Studio head Nick Tannahill says Firefly has been self-publishing since 2010 and already has established workflows for marketing, localisation and publishing, along with relationships with platform holders. The studio also maintains three online games, experience that can help inform support for Fool King’s asynchronous multiplayer features.
That support goes beyond funding. Firefly has offered advice on user interface design and provided feedback on the core game. For an independent team, practical guidance from a developer familiar with production challenges can help identify issues early. Regular, focused feedback is often more useful than broad advice, so developers should clarify which areas they want a publishing partner to review.
Nick Tannahill | Image credit: Firefly Studios
Why Firefly is entering publishing
Devolver acquired Firefly in late 2021 and encouraged the studio to explore publishing in a genre where Firefly has deep experience. Tannahill says the team regularly plays smaller strategy games for inspiration and saw an opportunity to provide developers with funding, guidance and partnerships where needed. He first came across Fool King through games coverage.
Firefly intends to keep the label small at first. The studio has other projects to manage, including Stronghold games and expansions, so new publishing commitments will need to fit its schedule. Tannahill says the initial focus will be on smaller titles and a sustainable workload rather than announcing several games at once.
Firefly is starting WuselFaktory small, with limited goals for its first couple of years. | Image credit: WuselFaktory
Strategy games remain a major opportunity on Steam
Tannahill describes strategy as a large genre with many sub-genres and a substantial audience on Steam. He believes there is room for new games inspired by classic styles, including real-time strategy, which he feels has not received enough new releases despite continued interest in the genre.
Firefly uses player surveys in its game demos to understand what audiences want. The studio has received around 6,000 responses per survey across three games, asking about features, future projects and expected prices. Its findings suggest that a notable share of its audience is aged 18–25. For studios seeking to understand their players, direct, repeated feedback can help guide decisions—but survey responses are most useful when considered alongside other audience data.
Firefly also sees value in maintaining a varied portfolio. Its work spans older-style 2.5D games inspired by early Command & Conquer and Age of Empires, as well as fully 3D projects such as Stronghold 4. A mix of styles can reduce reliance on a single trend, though each project still needs to fit the team’s capacity.
Stronghold remains a key focus for Firefly Studios. | Image credit: Firefly Studios
What the Firefly publishing label means for players
WuselFaktory begins with one game, Fool King, rather than a large slate of releases. Firefly’s strategy experience, publishing systems and player feedback practices could give its partner practical support while keeping the label’s ambitions manageable. For players looking for new strategy games on Steam, the Firefly publishing label is one to watch as it builds its catalogue at a measured pace.
