Blind Squirrel Games 15-Year Retrospective Series

Part 3: Boss Fights and Breakthroughs (2016-2021)

By the late 2010s, Blind Squirrel was entering a pivotal era. After years of success with ports and remasters, the studio began charting a new course, one that would expand its creative ambitions and global footprint.

Part 3 of the Blind Squirrel Games Retrospective Series highlights how Blind Squirrel embraced innovation, navigated industry shifts, and laid the foundation for worldwide growth. It was a time of bold decisions, creative risks, and a renewed focus on building a sustainable future. This period represented the critical inflection point where Blind Squirrel demonstrated its ability to grow rapidly while remaining stable.

Turning the Tide with Ambitious Undertakings

From 2017 onward, Blind Squirrel focused on diversifying its portfolio and strengthening its development capabilities. After a strong series of finished games, the BSG team landed multiple projects with extended development time frames. The leadership team viewed this stability as an opportunity to evolve their core competencies to include taking on original IP.

“We wanted to show the industry that we could do more than ports and remasters,” said Matthew Fawcett, Chief Development Officer. “That meant investing in original IP and building the right team to make it happen.” These strategic pivots underscored the studio’s resilience and commitment to long-term growth, ensuring Blind Squirrel could adapt quickly to changing market conditions.

A Big Bet & Lessons that Last

The development of Drifters Loot the Galaxy marked a bold step forward for Blind Squirrel Games. “Not only were we creating an original game, we were publishing it ourselves,” noted Haydn Dalton, Studio Creative Director. “It was a big move, but it reflected our confidence in the team.” Drifters became a proving ground for Blind Squirrel’s ability to deliver full-scale development. “It changed how people looked at us,” Dalton explained. “We demonstrated that we could build something from the ground up.” While Drifters wasn’t a blockbuster, it was a creative success that strengthened internal processes and inspired future projects. “I still think it’s some of our best work,” Dalton added. “Years later, the game holds up visually and mechanically.” The decision to invest in Drifters showcased Blind Squirrel’s willingness to take calculated risks that ultimately strengthened its creative and operational foundation.

Drifters also taught Blind Squirrel valuable lessons about focus and efficiency. “Finding the fun early is critical,” said James Garcia, Studio Art Director. “We carried that insight into every project that followed.” These learnings became part of the studio’s DNA, reinforcing its commitment to adaptability and excellence.

Steve Sardegna, Chief Financial Officer, recalls how Blind Squirrel’s work on Drifters opened new doors for the company. “Even though the game itself wasn’t commercially successful, it did show that we had the ability to create — and in particular it showed off our ability for character creation, which directly led to landing new projects.”

“Fail quickly, learn fast, and improve,” emphasized Brad Hendricks, Chief Executive Officer. “That philosophy makes us stronger.” Hendricks elaborated, “We created a lot of processes internally that were critical to the company’s success. We tracked data points, refined our remote and hybrid work approach, and learned the difference between in-house collaboration versus hybrid. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but we found ways to make them work.” Steven Sargent, Vice President of Production, who joined in 2020, recalls, “When I arrived, processes weren’t unified. Different people did things differently, which made building momentum hard. Brad’s early steps in formalizing these processes were key.” Matthew Phillips, Executive Producer, echoes the sentiment: “Before Drifters, collaboration was informal; you could lean over and ask a teammate something. COVID forced us to document and formalize these workflows. It changed the culture for the better.” This set of documented processes became known as The Blind Squirrel Way, which is the guiding set of principles and practices that shape how teams collaborate, solve problems, and deliver work across the studio.

Pandemic Pivot & Going Global

When the pandemic hit, Blind Squirrel was ready. Leadership had already explored remote workflows, enabling a smooth but quick transition when Covid-19 reached California. “We moved quickly,” Dalton recalled. “While others were figuring it out, we were already operating effectively.” Despite global uncertainty, Blind Squirrel maintained consistent development schedules and delivered projects on time, leveraging remote collaboration tools and streamlined workflows to keep momentum strong. This adaptability highlighted the studio’s ability to pivot quickly while continuing to grow and put out consistently high-quality game development.

This period also introduced Blind Squirrel to the potential of global expansion. “COVID certainly spurred this,” Hendricks said. “It was almost like a get-off-the-pot moment. Expanding globally gave us more leverage and momentum. We saw an opportunity to broaden our reach,” Hendricks explained. “Opening new studios allowed us to tap into global talent and deliver even more value to partners.” Blind Squirrel established new hubs in Texas and New Zealand, creating an international footprint. “We were successful in having teams collaborate across time zones thanks to our unified processes.” Hendricks said. These moves ensured Blind Squirrel could continue thriving even as the industry faced unprecedented challenges.

Quiet Wins, Big Impact

Throughout this era, Blind Squirrel delivered on projects that showcased its versatility:

• A major console adaptation for beloved life-simulation title The Sims 4 – “From an engineering standpoint, it was a huge challenge,” Fawcett said.
• An unannounced entertainment platform project – A long-term engagement, ongoing to this day, that demonstrated technical expertise across multiple devices.
• A high-profile remaster for a fan-favorite franchise, Mass Effect – “It was a milestone that reinforced our reputation for quality,” Fawcett noted.
• Multiple other engagements, including Civilization Revolution 2, God of War, Sonic Colors, and Prey.

These successes provided stability while fueling the studio’s creative ambitions. They reinforced Blind Squirrel’s reputation for reliability and innovation, proving that steady growth and operational excellence were possible even during challenging times.

Blueprint for the Future

The Drifters era drove Blind Squirrel to formalize its development playbook for future original IP development. “Before, things were ad hoc,” Garcia said. “Now we have clear processes that make us more efficient and consistent.” By formalizing internal development processes, Blind Squirrel positioned itself for sustainable growth and demonstrated its capacity to evolve quickly in response to industry demands. Those systems would ultimately help BSG thrive in the long-term. “The fact that we can look out a year and say, ‘if these things happen, this is what we’ll look like,’ gives us the ability to make decisions now based on what scenarios will look like next spring, next summer, and next fall,” Sardegna commented. “The framework created helps us maintain stability when the market stagnates — and they will help us when we actually do have a market we can grow in.”

The Drifters years marked Blind Squirrel’s coming of age. Through risk-taking, structural growth, and global expansion, the studio reshaped how it worked and how it saw itself.

Conclusion

This era of Blind Squirrel Games was about transformation. BSG embraced change, expanded globally, and strengthened its identity as a full-service developer. “We’ve grown up as a studio,” Hendricks reflected. “Today, we’re polished, professional, and trusted by some of the biggest names in gaming.”

This era cemented Blind Squirrel’s identity as a dynamic, growth-oriented studio capable of quick pivots and consistent delivery, even in the face of unprecedented challenges. The Drifters era proved that Blind Squirrel doesn’t just adapt - it thrives.

The next and final installment of the Blind Squirrel Games Retrospective series covers the post-Drifters timeframe through current day, and BSG’s ambitions for the future.