Most games you love weren’t built by one team. The studio on the box is rarely the only studio in the room.
Behind some of the biggest releases of the past few years – across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch – there are specialized development teams that most players have never heard of. They don’t ship games under their own name. They build the features, port the builds, produce the art, and hit the milestones that make the games you play actually work.
This is a look at the studios doing that work right now.
Devoted Studios
Devoted Studios is the kind of studio that shows up in the credits of games you’ve definitely played – just rarely in a way that makes it obvious.
US-based, founded in 2018, with a team of 250+ across 15+ countries, Devoted works as a [co-development and game production partner](https://devotedstudios.com/game-development/) for AA and AAA studios across PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android. Their work covers co-development, porting, and end-to-end art production – meaning they can plug into almost any stage of a project’s lifecycle.
Start with Arc Raiders. Embark Studios’ extraction shooter launched October 2025 to an IGN 9/10 Editors’ Choice – widely called the game that finally set a new standard for the genre. Devoted was embedded throughout as a co-dev partner, handling UI engineering, gameplay features, and performance optimization as an extension of Embark’s core team. Not a task shop, not a side contract. A team inside the team.
Then there’s Risk of Rain 2. Gearbox needed it on five platforms simultaneously – Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S – same release window, no exceptions. Devoted rebuilt the rendering pipeline for each target, rewrote shaders, and optimized assets scene by scene. The result: 57% FPS improvement across all levels, first-submission certification on every platform, zero retries. When the “Survivors of the Void” DLC followed, it cleared cert on all platforms on the first attempt again.
FNAF: Security Breach is the third proof point worth knowing. Steel Wool’s Unreal Engine horror game needed to run at stable 30fps on Switch while matching PS4 visual quality – reviewers specifically noted how closely the two versions aligned. Devoted handled the port. Then the Ruin DLC. Then FNAF: Help Wanted on PS5 PSVR2. Every certification submission across all titles cleared on the first attempt. That relationship has since expanded to undisclosed titles still in development.
The thread across all of it is repeat business. Obsidian has worked with Devoted across five games. Steel Wool keeps expanding the collaboration. That pattern doesn’t happen with studios that treat projects as transactions.
*”The Obsidian team has been completely satisfied with Devoted Studios’ performance in all aspects. Devoted does an excellent job and never hesitates to run the extra mile to guarantee the best outcome.”*
– Chris Naves, Lead Art Outsourcing Manager, Obsidian Entertainment
90+ clients. 250+ projects shipped. Studio Art Director Ryan Lastimosa – formerly of Respawn Entertainment, credits on Apex Legends, Titanfall, and Call of Duty 4.
Saber Interactive
Saber Interactive is one of the larger independent co-development studios still operating at scale without being absorbed into a major publisher ecosystem. With studios across the US, Europe, and beyond, they’ve worked across co-development, porting, and full game production – shipping titles like World War Z, SnowRunner, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, which became one of the breakout co-op hits of 2024 with over 4 million copies sold. Their portfolio covers Unreal-based projects primarily, with experience across PC, console, and Nintendo Switch. For studios needing a large team with broad platform coverage, Saber has the infrastructure to match.
Blind Squirrel Entertainment
Blind Squirrel has built its reputation on co-development and remaster work – the kind of painstaking, detail-heavy production that doesn’t get headlines but absolutely gets noticed when it goes wrong. Their credits include BioShock: The Collection, Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition, and support work on titles across the 2K and Gearbox publishing families. They specialize in bringing existing games up to modern platform standards without losing what made the originals work – a narrower skillset than full co-dev, but one they’ve refined over a decade of consistent delivery.
Certain Affinity
Austin-based Certain Affinity has been a quiet force in co-development since 2006, with a focus on multiplayer systems and live service support. They’ve contributed to major franchise titles across Xbox and PlayStation platforms, bringing deep expertise in multiplayer engineering and map design. For studios shipping games with significant online components, Certain Affinity is a name that comes up repeatedly in industry conversations. Mid-to-large size, with a track record built over nearly two decades.
Illfonic
Colorado-based Illfonic specializes in co-development and has shipped standalone titles alongside their partner work. Known for asymmetric multiplayer experiences, they bring gameplay engineering and design expertise that’s harder to find at pure-service studios. Their experience shipping complete products gives them a different perspective on feature development – they understand what it takes to get something from concept to a player’s hands, not just to a milestone checkpoint.
BKOM Studios
Canadian studio BKOM covers game art and co-development across PC, console, and mobile. Mid-size and independently operated, they’ve shipped across a range of genres and platforms with a reputation for clean communication and reliable delivery. A practical choice for studios that need a defined-scope partner rather than a long-term embedded team.
The games industry runs on collaboration. The studios you see at The Game Awards are almost never the only teams that built what’s on stage. Behind most of them – somewhere in the pipeline – are teams like the ones above, doing the work that makes the credits possible.