Studio MDHR

Studio MDHR is a Canadian independent video game developer and original-IP creator founded in 2013. Its work combines demanding action-platform gameplay with a distinctive visual language rooted in early animated cartoons, particularly the hand-drawn, rubber-hose-era aesthetic of the 1930s.

The studio is best known for Cuphead, a 2017 action game built around boss encounters, precision platforming, traditional character animation, watercolor backgrounds, and a big-band jazz and ragtime score. For the production, character animation was drawn by hand on paper, inked, and combined with painted backgrounds before being scanned and composited in Unity. The game became a major commercial success and received recognition including Best Independent Game and Best Art Direction at The Game Awards.

Games and screen work

Studio MDHR develops and publishes its own interactive properties, with work spanning game production, digital distribution, licensing, and executive production for screen adaptations. Its released work includes:

• Cuphead
• Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course, the 2022 expansion
• The Cuphead Show!, a 36-episode Netflix animated series executive-produced by the studio in partnership with King Features Syndicate

The studio has also announced Mighty Cuphead Adventure, an 8-bit action platformer being developed in Assembly language for Sega Master System hardware and modern platforms, as well as a new hand-animated Cuphead title.

Creative approach

Studio MDHR works as a distributed team, coordinating animation, engineering, design, and audio remotely across Canada, the United States, and internationally. This operating model supports a deliberately nimble production structure while retaining an emphasis on handmade visual craft, exacting game design, and original music.

Its specialties include frame-by-frame 2D animation, retro-inspired action and boss-rush design, retro-hardware programming, interactive art direction, and audio implementation. The studio’s work connects video games with animation, streaming entertainment, and consumer-product licensing through its original character properties.