Eighth Lantern Studios

Eighth Lantern Studios is an independent American game developer building original action games for PC and consoles. Founded in 2025 by game-design veteran Gabriel “Gabe” Sheets, the remote-first collective brings together experienced developers to create comedic, highly replayable experiences with an emphasis on action, cooperation and expressive player creativity.

The studio’s debut project is Toypunk, a third-person roguelite puppet shooter developed in Unreal Engine 5. Players assemble customizable puppet characters known as Foppits and take on plush-monster hordes in the alternate dimension of the Imaginality. The game combines co-op multiplayer, modular character assembly, physics-driven ragdoll gameplay, AI encounters and third-person combat.

Development approach

Eighth Lantern focuses on first-party intellectual property rather than work-for-hire client services. Its development practice combines concept design, prototyping and full-cycle production, with a lean distributed team working across the United States and internationally.

The studio has made a public commitment to human-created development. Its concept art, 3D modelling, rigging, animation, audio and gameplay systems are intended to be made by human developers rather than generative AI.

Current work

Toypunk was publicly revealed in 2026 and represents the studio’s first title under the Eighth Lantern banner. The project is designed around fast, chaotic combat and playful social experiences, using Unreal Engine 5 to support its stylized puppet action and roguelite progression systems.