Milky Tea
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2005
- Employees
- 11-50
- Offices
- 2
About Milky Tea
Milky Tea is a British video game development studio based in Liverpool. Established in 2005, it creates original game intellectual property alongside work-for-hire and co-development services. Its background spans animation, commercial digital production and interactive entertainment, with a portfolio that ranges from comedic racing and arena sports to tactical roguelites and action RPGs.
The studio began as a digital animation and creative agency before shifting its primary focus toward games during the 2010s. Its earlier commercial work included the Lloyds TSB For the Journey campaign, produced between 2007 and 2013. That animation background sits alongside its current capabilities in stylized characters, environment design, keyframe animation and cinematic trailers.
Original games
Coffin Dodgers brought retirement-village scooter racing and combat to PC in 2015 and consoles in 2016. HyperBrawl Tournament followed as an Apple Arcade launch title in 2019, combining futuristic sports with arena combat before expanding to PC and consoles in October 2020. The studio also developed the mobile roller-racing game Roller Rally.
In March 2025, Milky Tea released Grit and Valor - 1949 on PC through Megabit. The game combines an alternate-history dieselpunk setting with real-time tactical roguelite play and subsequently reached consoles. As of November 2026, the studio had also announced Vaewolf, a dark fantasy action RPG and hack-and-slash roguelite with a comic-book-inspired aesthetic, targeting an early 2027 release.
Development capabilities
Milky Tea offers full-cycle game development, original concept development and prototyping, co-development, art asset production, UI/UX, quality assurance and platform testing. Its technical work includes multiplatform porting and optimization, with experience across PC, console, mobile and VR/XR. Commercial animation and video production remain part of its supported service offering.
Aonic acquired a majority stake in the company in April 2023. Milky Tea continues to operate as a distinct development studio within the group, combining its original games business with external development services.
More about Milky Tea
Founders and leadership
- Jonathan Holmes and Ian Leyland founded the studio. Holmes stepped down as CEO and director on 31 July 2025 while retaining a minority shareholding.
- Chris Wood, previously General Manager, succeeded Holmes as Managing Director in July 2025. His statutory director appointment was dated 30 July 2025.
- The report identifies Paul Schempp and Fredrik Øien Iversen as additional directors, with Iversen appointed on 10 November 2025.
Working model
The studio describes a hybrid and remote operating model with team members across the UK and mainland Europe, gathering at its Liverpool studio for production sprints and game jams.
Music collaboration
The original synthwave soundtrack for HyperBrawl Tournament received a Sony Music release alongside the game's expansion to additional platforms in 2020.
Notable credits
6 creditsOffices
Where Milky Tea is based
- Studio J, Baltic Creative Campus, 49 Jamaica Street, Liverpool, L1 0AH, England, United KingdomLiverpool, England, United Kingdom
Liverpool office
HeadquartersOverall company headquarters and core production facility, providing collaborative space for production sprints and game jams.
- Liverpool, England, United Kingdom
Liverpool office
Open roles
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