Stoic
- Open roles
- 0
- Founded
- 2012
- Employees
- 11-50
- Offices
- 2
About Stoic
Stoic is an independent American game developer known for narrative-driven role-playing games, tactical combat and hand-drawn animation. Founded in early 2012 by Arnie Jorgensen, John Watson and Alex Thomas, the studio grew out of the founders’ experience working together at BioWare Austin on Star Wars: The Old Republic. Their new company focused on creating artistically distinctive games shaped by mature storytelling and consequential player decisions.
The studio established its identity with The Banner Saga, which combines Norse-inspired fantasy, turn-based battles and a story shaped by difficult choices. Its hand-drawn visual style draws on the work of Ralph Bakshi and Eyvind Earle, while an orchestral score by Austin Wintory accompanies the journey. Released in January 2014 through publishing partner Versus Evil, the game became the foundation of a trilogy continued by The Banner Saga 2 in 2016 and The Banner Saga 3 in 2018. Stoic also developed The Banner Saga: Factions, a standalone multiplayer combat title released in 2013.
Expanding into cooperative action
With Towerborne, Stoic moved into cooperative side-scrolling action RPG combat. Developed in Unreal Engine 5 with Xbox Game Studios Publishing, the project marked a deliberate tonal departure from the melancholy of The Banner Saga. Players encounter a more upbeat adventure built around action, cooperation and progression.
Towerborne entered Steam Early Access in September 2024 and Xbox Game Preview in April 2025. Following player feedback, Stoic changed its planned free-to-play approach to a paid premium game with offline capabilities. Its full release followed on February 26, 2026 for PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
Across these projects, Stoic’s work spans game design, concept art, animation, software engineering, narrative writing and release operations. The studio operates through a distributed team across North America.
More about Stoic
Leadership
- Trisha Stouffer became CEO and President in April 2022, following production leadership roles at Riot Games and Xbox.
- Co-founder Arnie Jorgensen serves as Chief Creative Officer / Art Director, and co-founder John Watson as Chief Technical Officer / Technical Director.
- Drew McGee is identified as Lead Writer.
Production and working practices
Stoic describes its operating philosophy as “fully remote, forever remote.” John Watson’s postmortem of The Banner Saga 2 describes development across multiple time zones and continents. The company’s current model supports recruitment across North America without dedicated commercial studio premises.
The studio’s technical capabilities include proprietary 2D game engines alongside its use of Unreal Engine 5.
Early funding and recognition
The original The Banner Saga Kickstarter campaign raised $723,886 in 2012. The game subsequently earned four BAFTA nominations.
Notable credits
5 creditsOffices
Where Stoic is based
- Austin, Texas, United States
Austin office
- Remote
Remote office
Founding and active geographic operations hub for the distributed studio; no dedicated commercial office premises are established.
Open roles
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