Hole in the Sleeve

About Hole in the Sleeve

Hole in the Sleeve is an independent British video game developer and publisher operating as a remote-first studio. Founded by industry veteran Davide "Dado" Pirola, the studio focuses on creating high-fidelity physics-based sports simulations and action-adventure titles. The team is best known for its partnership with the world-renowned parkour collective STORROR to develop STORROR Parkour Pro, a project that emphasizes authentic movement and urban exploration.

Technology and Innovation

At the core of the studio's development philosophy is the integration of high-end motion capture with responsive, real-time game physics. The studio has developed a proprietary "Human Emotion" animation framework within Unreal Engine 5, designed to move beyond traditional canned animations. Their production pipeline utilizes high-frame-rate inertial motion capture (Xsens Link) and data gloves (MANUS) sampled at 240 fps, processed through custom converter tools and bespoke inverse kinematics (IK) graphs to ensure precise, believable interaction with complex urban environments.

Studio Culture

Operating as a remote-first entity, Hole in the Sleeve brings together a diverse team of AAA industry veterans—with backgrounds from studios such as Criterion Games, Sony Studio Liverpool, and Revolution Software—alongside emerging indie talent. The studio maintains a commitment to fostering community engagement within the parkour and gaming scenes, supporting athlete sponsorships and events while maintaining an agile, collaborative development environment.