Atomic Owl News

This weekend, to an audience of millions being co-streamed by OTK at the OTK Games Expo, we surprise-dropped the second game in the Monster Theater catalogue, and our first published game: the viral indie hit 'The Dark Queen of Mortholme'

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You can wishlist it here.

It is launching in just two and a half months, on August 15th.

Monster Theater is bringing the Queen to Steam with full controller support, over a dozen languages, Steam achievements, expanded community support, multiple endings, and more.

Let's chat about the game, and a little about what we're doing with our new approach to publishing.

Launches do not always unfold the way game developers want. Game Devs can dedicate all of their time, passion, and resources to their creations, but they still come up against things out of their control: bad timing, low reach, and let's face it, poor marketing strategies.

What I've always wanted to do with Monster Theater is create a publishing mission to ensure every game has its moment to shine. We will carry the torch and treat your game with respect, care, and effort, to help devs achieve whatever success means to them.

We believe in a personal, hands-on publishing approach focused on genuine connection and organic growth. We treat your game as if it were our own while ensuring the world knows it’s entirely yours.

Specifically with 'The Dark Queen of Mortholme', I saw an incredible title that was a pure work of art.

When I played it, I felt that it hit the exact ethos behind the games that I want to bring under our umbrella. Short form indies that pack a punch. I hope you see what I mean in August.

Have a game to pitch to us? Reach out! www.monstertheater.games

It's almost time to party, owl ninjas!

Leading up to launch, we'll be revealing more of the game and what you can come to expect from launch.

Which, as a reminder, is July 15th!

The new trailer will reveal...

• Gameplay of all three playable characters
• All new levels
• All in-game weapons and mechanics
• Some new music!

Also, you may have caught that jaw-dropping artwork. It was done by none other than KingSloth, and we will be featuring this artwork on console release as well.

SEE YOU JUNE 3RD!

GOBLIN INTERN #3498 HERE

*ahem*

WE CAN FINALLY ANNOUNCE THAT...

Atomic Owl was a winner at the Winter Game Awards 2024 🦉

We're extremely honored and proud of our team for reaching this milestone -- our first industry award! We can't believe it! I'm jumping for joy ov' here!

With this award comes a grant that we will use to make Atomic Owl even better. A gigantic thank you to OTK and Ovilee from the OTK team for helping make this possible and believing in our team -- and our first indie.

Onwards!

I didn’t have a grand blueprint when I started making Atomic Owl.

I thought, "It’s a platformer. How hard could it be? Maybe a year of work?"

Oh, how wrong I was.

"Okay, but I want Samurai and Ninja Bird warriors. Let's make THAT happen."

And...we did!

The journey to this point has been anything but straightforward. When I began, my game development experience was minimal. I’d interned as a playtester at Gearbox for Borderlands 3 and spent a year as a producer at PeopleFun, a Dallas-based mobile game studio. There, I led teams building word games—not the same as crafting a side-scrolling platformer.

But I had a vision. I wanted to create something that prayed at the church of Katana Zero.

At the time, I didn’t know how to code, animate, design UX, or make pixel art, but I did have my North Star. I felt, and still feel, that indie games were missing that nostalgic Saturday morning cartoon vibe. Think Sewer Shark, Gargoyles, or Ronin Warriors. I wanted to capture that magic. Games like Shovel Knight and Katana Zero, which channeled the spirit of Mega Man X, were my inspirations—and I wanted to add to that pantheon.

Atomic Owl was born.

The development process wasn’t perfect. I skipped prototyping entirely, assembling the game’s “muscle, sinew, and string cheese” before its skeleton. My team and I had to work backward, but here we are today, with a game on the verge of completion.

We’re aiming to go gold by June, tighten a few screws, and press that mythical "Launch" button. So far, the public has seen only 15–20% of what’s in store. We’ve hidden narrative twists, gameplay innovations, and new characters and enemies that we can’t wait to reveal.

To OTK, thank you for letting us unveil our release date at the Winter Games Expo. To everyone who supported our Kickstarter earlier this year: thank you. To our amazing Monster Theater Discord community for spreading joy, memes, and feedback: thank you. And to the Monster Theater team: your work has made this milestone possible.

I can’t wait for you all to experience Atomic Owl next summer.

With gratitude,
Eldar,
Your friend in Bladewing City

"What's happened to Hidalgo? He seems very...askew"

In celebration of our new release date trailer being showcased at the OTKGamesExpo, here's something else for our loyal Bladewings, a first look at the Crowfeather skin in Atomic Owl!

During our Kickstarter, we teased the inclusion of a DLC skin called "The Crowfeather", which is a play on the plague doctor look recently popularized most by Bloodborne. We wanted to have a skin that represented not only our love for Bloodborne but an homage to that Eldritch/Lovecraftian feel.

The Crowfeather skin will be a FREE skin included in the base game on launch, players will be able to select the skin from the game's campfire hub.

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