Ska Studios
Ska Studios is an indie games studio founded by James Silva in 2007. It was founded as a result of winning a contract to publish The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai to Xbox Live Arcade.[2] Ska Studios has released four Metacritic-aggregated console games since then, more than any similarly-sized studio.[3].[4]
| Company type | Limited liability company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2007 |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington, US |
Key people | James Silva[1] |
Number of employees | 2 |
| Subsidiaries | Devoured Studios |
| Website | ska-studios |
The studio is well known for their art style, which is described as cartoonish, grim, and gory,[5] and their games "tight controls."[6] Many of the studio's games are highly inspired by modern action games such as Devil May Cry, Ninja Gaiden Black, and Dark Souls.[7]
Games
change
| Year | Title | Platform | Developers | Metacritic Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | ZP2K9[8] | XBLIG | James Silva | |
| 2009 | The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai[9] | XBLA | James Silva | 75 |
| 2009 | I Made a Game with Zombies in It![10] | XBLIG | James Silva | |
| 2010 | ZP2KX[11] | XBLIG | James Silva, Dustin Burg | |
| 2011 | The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile | XBLA/PC | James Silva, Dustin Burg | 81 |
| 2012 | Z0MB1ES (on teh ph0ne)[12] | WP7 | James Silva | |
| 2013 | Charlie Murder | XBLA/PC | James Silva, Michelle Juett Silva | 78 |
| 2014 | TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR[13] | XBLIG | James Silva, Michelle Juett Silva | |
| 2016 | Salt and Sanctuary | PS4/PC/PS VITA/Switch/XB1 | James Silva, Michelle Juett Silva | 85 |
| 2022 | Salt and Sacrifice[14] | PS5/PS4/PC/Switch | James Silva, Shane Lynch | 72 |
History
changeJames Silva began making games as a hobby in 2001, starting with Zombie Smashers X, a River City Ransom-style beat-em'-up game, however this game wasn't successful, it sold less than 100 units. James went on to develop more similarly unsuccessful titles, including Blood Zero, Zombie Smashers X2, and Survival Crisis Z, but never got anywhere until 2009's The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai.[15]
Development
changeAll of Ska Studios' games are made using the XNA framework or its open-source cross platform counterpart, MonoGame. When Xbox One launched with no XNA support, Ska Studios made the switch to PlayStation 4, with Salt and Sanctuary being the studio's first title available on a non-Microsoft console. Regarding the change, James said:
"The engineering side of it was an issue. All of our code is .NET/XNA, and, even though XNA support has ended, .NET games can use open source wrappers like MonoGame and FNA to carry the torch. But Xbox One has no .NET support. PS4 does, with titles like Towerfall: Ascension and Transistor using MonoGame in one form or another to deploy to PS4."[16]
References
change- ↑ Ska Studios About Page
- ↑ "MS offers deals to four XNA devs". Gamespot. Retrieved February 23, 2020.
- ↑ "Ska Studios". Metacritic. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ↑ "Official Ska Studios Twitter Account". Twitter. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
- ↑ "Review: Salt and Sanctuary by Ska Studios". IndieHangover. April 19, 2016. Archived from the original on April 19, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ↑ "'Salt and Sanctuary': A Worthwhile, 2D 'Souls' Successor - Quad Nine". Quad Nine. April 5, 2016. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ↑ "james silva". don't die. February 26, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ↑ "ZP2K9 - Xbox.com". marketplace.xbox.com. Archived from the original on November 8, 2010.
- ↑ "The Dishwasher".
- ↑ "I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 - Xbox.com". marketplace.xbox.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2010.
- ↑ "ZP2KX: Zombies & Pterodactyls!". marketplace.xbox.com. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ↑ "Z0MB1ES (on teh ph0ne) – Windows Games on Microsoft Store". Microsoft Store. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ↑ "Ska Studios releases TIME VIKING!!!!!ANDSPACERAPTOR". GameSpot. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ↑ Miller, Matt. "Salt And Sacrifice Brings The Soul To Summer Game Fest". Game Informer. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
- ↑ "Future ICONS: Meet Ska Studios' indie gaming power couple". www.syfygames.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ↑ "Ska Studios shifts to Sony after 6 years on Xbox". Engadget. Retrieved 2016-04-26.