Spiderweb Software

Spiderweb Software is an independent video game developer and self-publisher focused on single-player, story-rich, turn-based computer role-playing games. Founded in 1994 during the shareware era, the studio has remained an independent creator of fantasy RPGs for PC, Mac, and mobile platforms.

Its games pair branching choices, extensive lore, and tactical grid-based combat with deliberately retro, low-overhead visual design. The studio develops and publishes its own intellectual properties, maintaining a catalog that includes the Exile and Avernum series, Nethergate, Geneforge, Avadon, and Queen’s Wish.

Development and publishing approach

Spiderweb handles the full cycle of its games internally, including design, programming, writing, self-publishing, maintenance, platform modernization, technical support, and direct customer fulfillment. Its consumer-facing distribution model emphasizes DRM-free downloads, substantial playable demos, and a one-year money-back guarantee.

The company has also used Kickstarter to support ground-up remakes and engine overhauls of legacy games while continuing to develop new work. Its recent releases and projects include Avernum 4: Greed and Glory, released in 2025, and Geneforge 3 – Detonation, a remake in active development for a planned 2027 release.

Enduring RPG worlds

The studio’s body of work spans several distinct settings and styles:

• Exile and Avernum: underworld fantasy adventures that have been repeatedly reimagined across generations of releases.
• Geneforge: a bio-fantasy series built around shaping, factional choices, and consequence-driven storytelling.
• Avadon: a political fantasy trilogy centered on espionage and institutional power.
• Queen’s Wish: tactical fantasy RPGs with fort-building and territorial decision-making elements.

Spiderweb Software continues to operate as a focused independent studio, serving an audience for expansive, choice-driven RPGs without relying on external work-for-hire development.