Ruckus Games

Ruckus Games is an independent American video game developer founded in 2021 by veteran creators with experience at studios including Gearbox Software, Bethesda Softworks, Riot Games, Blizzard Entertainment, and Epic Games. The Texas-based team develops original PC and console games with a remote-first, distributed working model.

The studio focuses on session-based cooperative multiplayer experiences that combine third-person action with role-playing progression, crafting, environmental storytelling, and emergent systems. Its development capabilities span conception and prototyping through gameplay engineering, level design, UI/UX, audio, visual effects, live-service design, and closed-alpha playtesting. Ruckus Games also develops in-engine tools, procedural-generation systems, and custom Unreal Engine shaders to support its projects.

Debut project

Its first announced title, The Holdouts, is a stylized four-player cooperative shooter and town-defense RPG in active development and early playtesting. Players defend suburban neighborhoods from unusual extra-dimensional threats, using improvised weapons assembled from household appliances, power tools, lawn equipment, and musical instruments. The project combines shooter combat with light RPG progression, crafting, fortification, and eccentric humor.

Independent backing

Ruckus Games remains an autonomous developer backed by venture investors rather than a parent company. The studio raised a $5.5 million seed round in September 2022, led by Transcend Fund, to support its initial playable prototype. In November 2024, it completed a $19 million Series A led by Krafton, with participation from Hypergryph, Bitkraft Ventures, Transcend Fund, 1Up Ventures, Devsisters Ventures, and MK Venture Capital. Krafton gained board representation while the studio retained creative independence.

The company’s work is aimed at players looking for cooperative action games built around shared, repeatable sessions and evolving gameplay systems.