Former members of Coffee Stain have announced the launch of their own publishing company
A new indie game publisher has emerged in Sweden. It is called Three Friends.
Although the name Three Friends suggests that the company was founded by three people [the name translates from English to "three friends" — Editor’s note], there are actually four founders. All are veterans from other Swedish teams.
Here are the founders of the publisher:
- Albert Säfström — co-founder and former CEO of Coffee Stain Publishing;
- Daniel Kaplan — former business development manager at Mojang and Coffee Stain Publishing;
- Sebastian Badylak — former executive producer at Coffee Stain Publishing, currently also chairman of the board at Ludosity Interactive;
- Johan Hermeren — former CEO of Pieces Interactive, he also worked for a long time at Embracer Group, focusing on business development and M&A.
In an interview with VentureBeat, the founders of Three Friends shared that they officially established the company at the end of 2022, but have only now decided to make a full announcement.
Three Friends plans to work with small studios. The publisher is primarily interested in Scandinavian developers but is open to signing with studios from other regions if their game is appealing. Currently, Three Friends has partnered with six teams: five from Sweden and one from the U.S. It expects to publish its first games in the spring of 2025.
It is reported that Three Friends intends to work closely with developers from the earliest stages of game creation. Besides providing funding, the publisher will offer advice on development and business strategy. The games are planned to be released for PC, primarily on Steam.
Three Friends has secured initial investments, but the amount and the investors remain undisclosed.