Bulkhead breaks free from Tencent's £50M minimum as indie bet pays off
Summary
Bulkhead Interactive, a UK studio behind Battalion 1944, survived a near-shutdown after Tencent's scale demands clashed with its indie ambitions
Acquired via Splash Damage under Tencent, the studio was pushed toward £50M+ projects - far beyond its vision for the £10-12M shooter Wardogs
A management buyout backed by Everplay (Team17 parent) and Hiro Capital spun Bulkhead into Super Media Group, with ~50% of staff holding equity
Wardogs, now published by Team17, targets Early Access in 2026 with a modest but sustainable player base as the new definition of success
"We're not trying to take on Battlefield or anything like that or be the biggest game on Steam. We're trying to consistently deliver and build up to something."
01
Tencent's scale mismatch - too much money, too big a vision
Bulkhead was acquired by Splash Damage (owned by Tencent via Leyou Technologies, bought for ~$1.3B) in 2022
Tencent's investment thesis required projects of £50M+ minimum - Bulkhead's Wardogs was budgeted at £10-12M
The studio was flagged as suspicious for spending only 50% of its allocated budget while still hitting all targets
"They'd say that it wasn't big enough for them. They told everyone in the UK in 2021/22 that they wouldn't look at any game that was less than £50 million."
Cultural friction grew as Brammer was pulled into board meetings far removed from the studio's creative identity
02
Near-shutdown to employee-owned spinout
In late 2024, Bulkhead faced a binary choice: find a buyer or close by December
Leadership made an unusual decision - telling all staff immediately and encouraging them to seek other jobs if needed
No staff posted about redundancy risk on LinkedIn; team stayed unified for the full 12-month uncertainty period
A deal was struck with Everplay (Team17 parent company) to spin Bulkhead out under new holding company Super Media Group
Everplay holds 20%, Hiro Capital holds a minority stake, and close to 50% of staff now own stock in the company
"When people feel like they're in the trenches together, morale goes up."
03
Wardogs - a deliberately scaled ambition
Wardogs is a 100-player PC FPS featuring three-team combat over a single control zone, published by Team17
Core differentiator: players retain in-game cash between matches, rewarding session time in a way traditional shooters do not
Success is defined internally as 3,000 daily active players and a few hundred thousand copies sold - not chart dominance
Early Access launch targeted for 2026, with console release planned later as "one big package"
"Our judge, owner, and investor are the players. They keep us in business."
The contrast is deliberate - Tencent-backed Highguard attracted 2M+ players but shut down within two months after an all-or-nothing strategy
04
Studio culture and business model reset
Bulkhead is now contributing work to PUBG and Team17's Hell Let Loose alongside Wardogs development
The studio has been followed by a "Netflix-approved" documentary camera crew for four years
Four-day work week is currently paused but Brammer is actively seeking to reinstate it or introduce alternative working hour innovations
Financial transparency is baked into operations - staff understand Wardogs' performance will directly determine bonuses or redundancies
"For some people, that transparency is really comfortable. But actually, what we found is that people like to know where they stand and what the stakes are."
05
What comes next for Bulkhead
Wardogs Early Access launch in 2026 is the immediate make-or-break milestone for the newly independent studio
Long-term plan involves steady content cadence, gradual community growth, and eventual console launch as a full package
Bulkhead is being sought out by major FPS players, suggesting external work pipeline beyond Wardogs
Brammer aims to formally reward staff post-launch and rebuild working practices once financial stability is confirmed
Explore more: partnerships and co-development networks
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