Summary
Independent stealth tactics studio Mimimi Games is shutting down after publishing its latest titleShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewjust over a week ago.Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewhas players revive a crew of cursed pirate legendsaboard the Red Marley as they stealth their way across large, open islands on their hunt for the captain’s treasure.
Mimimi Games had become somewhat of a legendary independent studio in the shrinking world of stealth games over the past decade. After first creating a mobile hot air balloon game titleddaWindciin 2011 and a 3D platformer namedThe Last Tinker: City of Colorsin 2014, the German studio went on to partner with Daedalic Entertainment on its first stealth titleShadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. This isometric stealth game solidified Mimimi’s identity and put the studio on the map as one of the industry’s last great indie stealth studios. After later partnering with THQ Nordic on thecritically acclaimedDesperados 3in 2020, Mimimi Games sought to self-publish its latest game,Shadow Gambit,which had just released to positive reception.
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In a bit of heartbreaking news for fans of Mimimi’s games and the stealth genre in general, Mimimi Games took to Twitter to announce its closure not even two weeks after releasingShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew,one of the best games in a stacked 2023. The post assuresShadow Gambitplayers that the team will continue to support the new title with patches and a planned “content drop” later this year. Judging by how quick Mimimi was to announce its closure after just releasing a new title, this was likely a decision made well beforeShadow Gambit’s release.
Mimimi cites a “heavy personal toll” on its team members after working on such increasingly ambitious titles as one of the main reasons for its closure, with financial difficulties providing another major reason. While unknown, perhaps self-publishing instead of linking up with a supporter like THQ Nordic or Daedalic Entertainment led to an increased budgetary strain duringShadow Gambit’s production. With how quickly this seems to have happened, maybe it’s not too late for acompany such as Embracer Groupto buy Mimimi with the hopes of providing financial security and less taxing development timelines.
With Mimimi team members hopefully looking to land on their feet with assistance from the closing studio, fans of stealth games are left wondering about the fate of the genre now that one of its best remaining studios is closing down. Ubisoft seems to be keeping the stealth torch lit in the AAA world for now withAssassin’s Creed Mirageon the way this yearand a newSplinter Celltitle in the works. There are also big franchises likeA Plague Tale,Metal Gear Solid,and Arkane’sDishonoredwhich could help keep the beloved genre alive on a large scale. However, the future of smaller indie or AA stealth titles looks bleaker at the moment with Mimimi Games out of the picture.
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewis out now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
