Shiro Games

Independent French video game development studio and publisher. Legal entity: Shiro Games SAS (French Société par Actions Simplifiée). Headquartered at **104bis Quai des Chartrons, 33300 Bordeaux, France** (per official shirogames.com). **FOUNDED by Sebastien Vidal and Nicolas Cannasse** — video game industry veterans (per LinkedIn 'Shiro Games' company page: 'Founded by industry veterans Sebastien Vidal and Nicolas Cannasse...' and GamesPress 'Northgard Definitive Edition' announcement: 'Shiro Games is an independent Bordeaux-based studio founded by video game veterans Sebastien Vidal and Nicolas Cannasse to...'). Co-founder **Nicolas Cannasse** is also the creator of the **Haxe** open-source programming language (used extensively in indie/web game development) and the original Heaps 3D engine. **FLAGSHIP IPs:** **Northgard** (2018, multi-million-selling Viking-themed RTS — Definitive Edition launched 2025+ per GamesPress), **Wartales** (2023, open-world tactical RPG), Evoland series, Darksburg, Dune: Spice Wars (2023, with Funcom co-publishing). Hybrid in-house dev + publisher: ships own titles + publishes selected third-party indies. **SISTER LABEL: Shiro Unlimited** — separate dedicated publishing imprint (separate Atlas node candidate). Independent — no parent corporation. Senior leadership: Julien Wera (COO & Head of Publishing per LinkedIn 2026). MobyGames: 534 'Published by' credits (high — reflects Steam Network publishing across all SKUs/regions/DLC/multi-platform). Moby record: 'Shiro Games SAS'. 2026 UPDATE: newest self-developed title **Farever** is out now (per shirogames.com news); **Shiro Unlimited** third-party publishing arm expanded via PC Gaming Show: underwater city-builder **Abyssals** (OP Team) and **Decarnation** (Atelier QDB), plus **Frostrail** announced for Steam Early Access 2026 (per X @shirogames); **Northgard Battlegrounds** — city-building auto-battler with Funday Games (developer of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor) — announced for PC 2026 (per GamesPress); Dune: Spice Wars left Early Access September 14, 2023 as a Funcom-co-published 4X/RTS; Cathay Capital reportedly invested EUR 50M for recruitment and two unannounced projects (per GI.biz).

• Type: Publisher and Developer · Buyer
• Headquarters: France
• Data updated: 5 Nov 2026

Key facts

• According to Games Atlas analysis of shipped-game credits, Shiro Games published or developed 35 games released 2015–2026.
• Games Atlas data shows 5 of 30 Shiro Games titles with known production credits (17%) used external service partners.
• The most frequent external partner on Shiro Games titles is LOC3 (4 shared credits, 2020–2025).
• Kept in-house according to the credits: Lead & co-development.

What Shiro Games outsources and how open it is to new partners

The verdict rates how hard it is for a new vendor to win work in each discipline, from how much work goes outside, how concentrated it is among incumbents, and how often new partners entered in the last three years.

• Publishing: Moderate barrier: open to newcomers, few slots. 6 of 35 credited titles used external partners (17%); 5 external partners, largest Funcom (38% of outsourced volume); 2 outsourced and 0 new partners since 2023. Confidence: low.
• Lead & co-development: Closed: kept in-house. 0 of 28 credited titles used external partners (0%); 0 external partners; 0 outsourced and 0 new partners since 2023. Confidence: low.
• Localisation services: Not enough data: fewer than 5 outsourced games. 4 of 4 credited titles used external partners (100%); 4 external partners, largest LOC3 (57% of outsourced volume); 2 outsourced and 0 new partners since 2023. Confidence: low.
• Audio design and production services: Not enough data: fewer than 5 outsourced games. 3 of 3 credited titles used external partners (100%); 3 external partners, largest G4F Prod (50% of outsourced volume); 0 outsourced and 0 new partners since 2023. Confidence: low.

External partners proven by shipped credits

• LOC3 — Localisation services, Publishing, 4 shared credits, 2020–2025
• Funcom — Publishing, 3 shared credits, 2022–2024
• G4F Prod — Audio design and production services, Publishing, 2 shared credits, 2020–2021
• Oizumi Amuzio — Publishing, 2 shared credits, 2019–2019
• Funday Games — Lead & co-development, Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2026–2026
• Hammer & Ravens — Lead & co-development, Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2025–2025
• Atelier QDB — Lead & co-development, Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2023–2023
• Headbang Club — Porting services, 1 shared credits, 2023–2023
• Lollipop Robot — Publishing, QA and testing services, 1 shared credits, 2023–2023
• Arcades Sound — Audio design and production services, 1 shared credits, 2022–2022
• Dream Powered Games — Art, assets and fonts production services, Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2021–2021
• Unique Horns Studios — Audio design and production services, Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2020–2020
• Super Rare Games — Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2019–2019
• H2 Interactive — Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2019–2019
• MP Digital — Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2015–2015
• EC-Interactive — Localisation services, Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2021–2021
• Universally Speaking — Localisation services, Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2021–2021
• Active Gaming Media — Localisation services, Publishing, 1 shared credits, 2020–2020

Group structure

• Shiro Unlimited (Publisher)

Methodology

Source: Games Atlas (gamesatlas.app), based on MobyGames production credits for games released from 2015 onwards and Games Atlas analysis. One game counts once regardless of platforms or editions. Games Atlas does not estimate revenue or report the performance of individual games. Profile: https://gamesatlas.app/companies/shiro-games