HEX Entertainment

HEX Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher based in Lake Forest, California. Its work focused on digital trading card games, combining competitive card battles with multiplayer systems, deck building and role-playing campaign elements. The studio developed HEX: Shards of Fate, a massively multiplayer online trading card game built in Unity.

Formed around 2013–2014 as a digital interactive sister studio of tabletop publisher Cryptozoic Entertainment, HEX concentrated on developing and operating its digital card game. Its capabilities included game design and balancing, client architecture, digital card art and illustration, and the live operations needed to maintain an online game. The game supported both player-versus-player competition and player-versus-environment content, with subsequent card expansions, tournament modes and campaign development extending its original scope.

Development and publishing

Following a partnership with German publisher Gameforge in late 2015, HEX: Shards of Fate launched on PC in January 2016 and reached Steam in April that year. Gameforge initially handled publishing and distribution across North America and Europe. The companies parted ways in early 2017, after which HEX Entertainment took full responsibility for publishing the game.

The studio also developed the PlayStation 4 release HEX: Card Clash and the Chronicles of Entrath campaign expansion for HEX: Shards of Fate. Its production history centered on this connected digital card-game offering rather than a broader portfolio of unrelated titles.

HEX Entertainment announced the game's sunset in late 2020, citing unsustainable operating overhead. Servers permanently shut down on December 31, 2020, and the studio ceased operations.