Seattle-based indie developer Galvanic Games announced it was closing on June 14, 2024. Founder Patrick Morgan said sales of Wizard with a Gun were not enough to sustain the studio, while the time needed to sign new projects exceeded the studio’s remaining runway. GeekWire reported that ten employees were expected to lose their jobs at the time; the report did not provide a later employment update.
Why did Galvanic Games close?
Morgan’s explanation, reported by GeekWire on June 14, 2024, focused on two pressures. “Despite the promising start of Wizard with a Gun, sales are not strong enough to sustain our studio,” he wrote. He also said, “The last year has been particularly tough for games.”
Morgan said the studio had encouraging conversations at the DICE Summit and Game Developers Conference, but that signing new projects took longer than its remaining runway. These are the founder’s stated reasons, not an independently audited account of Galvanic’s finances. No cited figure establishes the game’s sales, the studio’s runway length, or the precise financial position behind the decision.
What happened to the studio’s employees?
GeekWire reported that ten Galvanic employees were expected to lose their jobs when the closure was announced. It also reported that Morgan shared a LinkedIn thread highlighting staff and helping them find new work. That is the employment impact reported at announcement time; no later outcome for those employees is established here.
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What games did Galvanic Games make?
Founded by Morgan in 2015, Galvanic developed a range of indie games. Its catalog included:
- Wizard with a Gun, made with publisher Devolver Digital and described on Galvanic’s Steam developer catalog as an online sandbox survival game for one to four players.
- Some Distant Memory, a hand-drawn story exploration game set 300 years after an apocalypse, according to the Steam catalog.
- Gurgamoth, described by Steam as a flying fighting game.
- Rapture Rejects, a collaboration involving Seattle publisher tinyBuild and the creators of the Cyanide & Happiness webcomic.
- Questmore and The Rust Belt.
Game Developer’s June 14, 2024 retrospective describes early tools and pipeline work on The Rust Belt carrying forward into Gurgamoth. Morgan reflected that the studio had accomplished what it set out to do when founded, while lamenting that the team he had spent years building was ending after its most productive year.
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Did Wizard with a Gun’s player count mean it was profitable?
No. In a Steam announcement dated October 25, 2023, Galvanic said 100,000 players had become “wizards with guns” by the time of update 1.0.2. That is a studio-reported player milestone, not a sales total, revenue figure, or evidence that the game was profitable. Morgan later said sales were insufficient to sustain the studio.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Are Galvanic’s games still available?
Steam’s developer catalog currently displays digital listings for Galvanic titles, including Wizard with a Gun, as well as DLC and digital extras such as an artbook and soundtrack downloads. A storefront listing shows that a digital product is listed there; it does not guarantee future availability. The cited sources establish digital listings, not physical editions, merchandise, or printed materials.
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