Knights Peak VP Talks the Nuances of Indie Game Publishing

How did Knights Peak begin? What was the original vision for the company, and how has that evolved over time?

Eugenio: In 2022, MY.GAMES had an established free-to-play focus and was already among the top 5 mobile publishers in EMEA. When I joined in 2023, we started working on a new pillar that would bring diversification and new publishing capabilities to enter the premium PC and console market, with a specific focus on second and third-party partnerships.

The second half of 2023 and the first half of 2024 were dedicated to preparatory work, both from an operational standpoint and building out the portfolio. Knights Peak was officially announced during Summer of Gaming 2024 alongside our first releases, including Starship Troopers: Extermination, with more titles following in October. 2025 has been a very positive year for us with multiple releases again.

As for evolution, the core mission remains the same, but we've gone from announcement to a label with multiple shipped titles and proven results. Each release has strengthened our relationships with platform holders and developers, and each release taught us something that made the next one stronger.

What core values or strategic principles guide how you choose projects for your catalogue?

Eugenio: We pursue Premium Indie to AA experiences, each with a distinctive voice in its category. Our core sits around RPGs, action, shooters, and RTS – but we look beyond when the right project presents itself. If it hits our pillars, we're interested.

From day one, we've anchored ourselves to three foundational pillars – personality, familiarity, and quality – and partnership is just as central. We look for products where our expertise can genuinely amplify a developer's creative vision and competence, and for teams who take pride in their craft and align with our values. When there's mutual respect and a shared commitment to the players, that's when the best work happens.

When evaluating games like Tempest Rising, what makes a title a great fit for Knights Peak’s portfolio?

Eugenio: Building on those three pillars I mentioned – personality, familiarity, and quality – Tempest Rising checked every box. It is a game that unapologetically pays homage to the golden era of RTS while delivering a thoroughly modernized experience. RTS fans who grew up with Command & Conquer instantly feel that connection, yet the production values and gameplay refinements meet today's standards.

That community has been underserved for years, and when you find a developer whose passion aligns with genuine player demand, that's exactly where we want to be as a publisher. The team at Slipgate Ironworks clearly took pride in what they were building – you could feel it in every detail.

How do you balance genre diversity, audience appeal, and creative ambition when curating your slate?

Eugenio: Our core principles and genre focus give us a clear lens, but they also give us the freedom to curate rather than collect. Every title in our slate is held to the same bar: genuine ambition and a clear identity. This creates cross-pollination opportunities within our community – the connective tissue binding these varied titles is their shared commitment to innovation. Whether a game breaks new mechanical ground or brings fresh perspective to a familiar framework, that creative drive has to be evident. Projects with real personality tend to be naturally suited to defined audiences rather than mass market, and our job is to position them to reach the players who'll connect with them.

What have been the biggest lessons you’ve learned from past publishing partnerships or releases that influence how you work today?

Eugenio: Every release teaches you something. One lesson that's become far more pronounced compared to earlier years in premium publishing is geographic market segmentation. This was always a factor, but the composition of platforms like Steam has fundamentally shifted.

Simplified Chinese overtook English as the platform's most-used language in 2024, and Asia-Pacific now represents over 40% of the total user base. A decade ago, Western markets dominated; today, player preferences across regions – gameplay values, monetization tolerances, cultural context – create entirely distinct success profiles. Steam's introduction of language-specific review scores in August 2025 only confirmed what the data already showed: designing for a universal audience is no longer a viable default. 

From your perspective, what trends are shaping the indie publishing landscape right now in terms of audience behavior, platform economics, and discoverability?

Eugenio: Three forces are defining the landscape right now. First, audiences are more price-sensitive – economic pressures have made players more deliberate about where they spend, and they're looking for clear value for money. Second, discoverability is a real challenge: there are simply too many games coming to market, whether finished or in early access, and standing out requires more than just quality – it requires smart positioning and timing.

Third, the generational shift toward hardware-agnostic gaming has disrupted the old product lifecycle. Publishers used to count on reselling titles across console generations; today's younger players expect to play anywhere, on any device, and they stick with their favorite games longer. That changes how you plan a release and how long you need to support it.

How can larger companies meaningfully support indie developers (beyond funding) in ways that are sustainable and respectful of creative identity?

Eugenio: The most valuable support goes beyond funding. We provide operational infrastructure – regional marketing, user testing, localization, certification, community management – and we handle platform relationships so studios can focus on making their game. We also share competitive intelligence on pricing, timing, and positioning. But the approach matters as much as what we offer: it's about enabling autonomy, not constraining it. Eye-to-eye relationships and respect for creative vision – that's what makes it sustainable.

What monetization models (e.g., live service, premium pricing, DLC/expansions, bundle strategies) do you see working best for mid-tier and indie titles today?

Eugenio: There's no universal formula – the right monetization depends on the game itself. Narrative-focused experiences tend to work best with upfront premium pricing, supplemented by DLC. Competitive multiplayer titles need regular content updates to justify ongoing engagement. Early access sits in an interesting middle ground: it can function as both a funding mechanism and an iterative design process, but only when developers stay transparent and deliver on their roadmap. Bundles also play a role – they can extend a title's lifecycle, provide clear value to players, and improve visibility.

We look at each project's mechanics, audience, and long-term vision to find an approach that feels authentic to the experience – not something grafted on.

How do you see the future of game distribution evolving? Particularly with respect to storefronts, curated platforms, subscription services, and direct-to-consumer models?

Eugenio: For us, it's a multi-platform reality – you meet players wherever they are. But the bigger shift is that distribution alone no longer guarantees visibility. With tens of thousands of games releasing each year, the challenge has moved from "how do I get my game on a platform" to "how do I get noticed once I'm there."

Steam remains dominant on PC and has become a truly global storefront. Console ecosystems are stable, but even first parties are going multi-platform now – Xbox releasing first-party titles on PlayStation, Sony steadily shortening the window between PS5 and PC releases. That signals where the industry is heading: platform exclusivity is losing its grip.

Subscription services are a tool, not a strategy. The smart approach is understanding when inclusion makes sense – some titles benefit from day-one exposure, others should protect their initial sales window. Treating subscription as a default rather than a deliberate choice leaves money on the table.

Editorial relationships and featuring have become critical. Algorithms alone aren't solving discoverability – the platforms that invest in curation, and the publishers who build genuine relationships with platform teams, will have an edge.

Direct-to-consumer remains limited for most, but publishers who invest in community building create options for themselves. You can't build that overnight, but when you have it, you're less dependent on any single channel.

The publishers who stay flexible, think regionally, and maintain multiple paths to their audience will navigate whatever comes next. That's what we aim for – not betting on a single channel, but building optionality.

Looking ahead, what do you think the industry is underestimating about the potential of indie games, and what opportunity do you believe is most ripe for innovation or disruption?

Eugenio: I think the clearest opportunity in our space is how effectively indie and AA studios can revive genres that larger publishers have moved away from. Look at RTS – the major publishers shifted focus as the genre didn't fit mobile or free-to-play models. Yet 2025 has been the strongest year for real-time strategy in nearly two decades, driven almost entirely by smaller studios. Tempest Rising is a perfect example. The audience never left; it was just underserved.

Indie teams operate with different economics – lower breakeven thresholds mean we can take creative risks on projects that wouldn't make sense at higher budgets. That flexibility also allows smaller studios to focus vertically on specific audiences and design with regional preferences in mind, rather than chasing a universal market that doesn't really exist anymore.

We're also seeing micro-studios and solo developers tackle projects that would have required larger teams just a few years ago. New engines, better middleware, and AI-assisted workflows are enabling ambition that wasn't realistic before – not by replacing creative work, but by removing bottlenecks that used to stop small teams cold. The key is using these tools in service of a clear creative vision. When that discipline is there, the ceiling for what a small team can deliver has genuinely moved.

Eugenio Vitale, VP of Publishing at Knights Peak