The company behind Hearth and Hamlet is ending its agency work to focus on publishing independent games, with Carnholt and Dragon’s Tear among its first announced projects.
Runic Forge, the publisher behind Phorust Studios’ Hearth and Hamlet, has changed its name to Pythia Games as parent company Rune ends its agency work and moves to an exclusive publishing model.
The change follows the launch of Hearth and Hamlet, a cozy incremental city builder that became Rune’s first major release as a publisher. Phorust Studios released the game on Steam on Aug. 19. It sold nearly 50,000 units in its first 24 hours and reached 100,000 units during its first week, according to GamesIndustry.biz.
The game has since passed 1,800 Steam reviews. Before launch, its free demo was played by more than 100,000 unique players, while the game’s Steam wishlists exceeded 125,000. Those figures formed the immediate background for Rune’s decision to make publishing the company’s sole focus.
Pythia’s first announced projects
Pythia Games has identified two titles in its first wave of new publishing projects. Carnholt is a roguelike deckbuilder from Maxime Minard, an artist known for work on Magic: The Gathering. The company also announced Dragon’s Tear, an idle dungeon-crawler RPG from developer LilChill Games that draws on classic Japanese role-playing games.
- Carnholt: A roguelike deckbuilder from Magic: The Gathering artist Maxime Minard.
- Dragon’s Tear: An idle dungeon-crawler RPG from LilChill Games.
- Hearth and Hamlet: Pythia’s first major publishing release, launched on Steam Aug. 19.
The publisher is also seeking additional partnerships with independent developers. Its stated focus includes supporting small teams and solo developers as they bring new projects to market.
“After years of experience in agency work, everyone here at Pythia Games is delighted to be starting this new chapter as a publisher,” said Aidan McGrath, founder and marketing director at Pythia Games.
McGrath said the company’s team is focused on finding and supporting independent games, including projects made by small teams and individual developers. The rebrand places that work under one publishing identity after Rune’s years operating as a data-driven indie marketing agency.
With the transition, Pythia Games’ announced slate consists of the already released Hearth and Hamlet and the upcoming Carnholt and Dragon’s Tear. The company’s next step is to continue building its publishing partnerships with independent developers.
