Overview
- Sitara Shefta and Will Dudley founded Pretty Cool Games with Shefta as CEO and Dudley as chief creative officer, drawing on careers that include leading Human: Fall Flat and roles at Sony, Lionhead and Rare.
- The studio has secured undisclosed seed financing from Hypergryph through its investment arm Coreblazer, which the founders say has funded early development and hiring.
- Pretty Cool is developing a prototype double‑A physics game that prioritises player expression and emergent, sandbox play, with design influences cited as Nintendo, Hazelight, Disney theme‑park experiences and physical comedy.
- The studio, which had four full‑time staff on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, plans to grow to about ten people and has imminent openings for lead design, level design and environment and concept artists while it seeks additional investment and a publisher.
- The founders say they will combine AAA discipline with indie speed and use share schemes and fair workplace policies to keep the studio sustainable and to reward employees if the games succeed, a model pitched as an alternative in a tough financing environment for new developers.