Game Development for Startups & Indies

Senior Unity developers who embed into your team from prototype to App Store. No equity required. Bespoke work is assigned under the agreed payment terms; our existing tools are licensed for use in the project, and third-party components retain their licences.

The Startup Studio Problem

You have the vision. We bring the engineering team to ship it, senior Unity developers who embed into your workflow from prototype through launch. Our indie and startup work spans MMORPG studios, solo founders, mobile game teams, and funded companies building their first commercial title. Whether you need a full development team or a senior engineer to fill a gap, we scale to fit your stage and your runway. For a sense of what game development costs at different scopes, see our cost guide and interactive estimator.

Discuss your project

You have a funded game concept and a deadline. Hiring a full engineering team takes 3–6 months and burns runway before a single line of production code ships. Solo freelancers are a gamble: quality varies, availability disappears, and there is nobody to review their work. We sit in the middle: a small, senior team with AAA studio pedigree that joins your project under an agreed onboarding plan. Our lead has shipped at Jagex (RuneScape Mobile), and we have delivered for indie studios ranging from solo founders to funded teams of 10+. We work in your repo, attend your standups, and ship production code on your schedule. See our co-development service for how we embed.

Games We’ve Built With Startups & Indies

Case Studies

Domi Online

Architecting a Scalable, “Cap-Less” MMORPG on a Lean Infrastructure

How we scaled a Unity MMORPG to 1,000+ concurrent players. Server architecture, FishNet networking, and performance optimisation.

MMORPG
Network Architecture
Full-Cycle Development
Live Operations

Read Case Study

Unity MMORPG Combat System - Real-Time Character Animation & Equipment Rendering

RuneScape Mobile

Porting a Desktop MMORPG to Mobile

From PC to pocket: the UI/UX and performance challenges of porting RuneScape to mobile. Bring this AAA porting expertise to your next project.

Mobile Porting
MMORPG
UI/UX Optimisation
Cross-Platform

Read Case Study

RuneScape Mobile gameplay video thumbnail

Our Clients

Indie MMORPG

Indie Studio

Indie Studio

Our Team's Track Record

Work from our team’s previous roles at leading studios and agencies.

AAA Studio

Where Are You Right Now?

Every startup is at a different stage. Here’s how we help at each.

I Have a Concept and Need a Prototype

You have: A game design document, pitch deck, or napkin sketch.
You need: A playable prototype that proves the core loop is fun and the tech is feasible.
What we do: We build a grey-box prototype in 4–8 weeks that you can put in front of players, investors, or publishers. Milestone-based pricing so you control spend. If the prototype validates, we agree production scope, availability and any work needed to prepare the prototype code.
Relevant project: Pocket Factory, designed and built from concept through mobile launch.

I Have a Prototype and Need to Ship

You have: A working prototype or vertical slice, possibly built by a solo developer or a small team.
You need: Production-quality code, polished gameplay, and a store-ready build.
What we do: We audit your existing codebase, identify technical debt and risks, then take ownership of the engineering work needed to ship. We handle performance optimisation, platform compliance, store submission, and launch support.
Relevant project: Nova Blast, where we modernised the legacy codebase, updated SDKs, and shipped the Android port.

I Have a Live Game and Need Help Scaling

You have: A launched game with players, but your team can’t keep up with content, bugs, and feature requests.
You need: Senior engineers who can work within your existing workflow after an agreed onboarding period.
What we do: We join your Slack, your repo, and your sprint. We confirm availability and review access, build setup and conventions before planning the first sprint. We work on your priorities, following your coding standards and review processes.
Relevant project: Domi Online, joined as code reviewer, promoted to lead developer and architected the systems behind the live MMORPG.

I Need a Vertical Slice to Raise Funding

You have: A vision and possibly some seed capital. You need to demonstrate to investors or publishers that the game is technically feasible and visually compelling.
What we do: We build a polished vertical slice that demonstrates core gameplay, visual quality, and technical architecture. This is not a throwaway demo; we build it on the same foundation that production will use, so nothing is wasted when you get funded.
Relevant project: Domi Online, where our architecture work delivered the vertical slice the studio took to investors.

How We Work With Startups

Prototype to Launch

Your idea ships. We take you from paper design to playable prototype to store-ready build, with milestone-based delivery so you control the pace and spend. See our rapid prototyping service for how we validate ideas fast.

Runway-Friendly Pricing

Your funding goes further. Flexible engagement models: weekly rates, milestone-based, or fixed-price per feature, so you pay for capacity you use, not headcount you maintain.

Embedded Team, Not Outsourcing

Your culture stays intact. We join your Slack, your Jira, your standups. We commit to your branches and follow your coding standards. It feels like hiring, without the commitment.

Ship-Ready Code Quality

Your codebase stays maintainable. Code reviews, automated testing, and documentation come standard, because technical debt kills startups faster than competitors do.

Multi-Platform From Day One

Your game reaches every player. We architect for iOS, Android, PC, and WebGL from the start, not as an afterthought port that doubles your timeline. Our mobile game development service covers new builds and ports to iOS and Android.

Full-Stack Game Engineering

Your team gaps get filled. Networking, UI/UX, monetisation, performance optimisation, store submission: we cover the full stack so you do not need five specialist hires.

From First Call to First Build

Discovery Call (Free)
A 30-minute call where we learn about your game, your stage, your budget, and your timeline. No sales pitch. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you and point you in the right direction.
Technical Assessment
We review your Game Design Document, existing codebase (if you have one), and technical requirements. We typically come back within a week with a scope assessment, recommended approach, and a fixed-price or weekly-rate quote; the timeline depends on how quickly we get access and how complex the codebase is.
Onboarding (Week 1)
We request repository access, join your Slack or Discord, and review your codebase and coding standards. Once access and onboarding are complete, our developers aim to commit their first pull request within the first week.
Fixed-Price Milestones
We work to fixed-price milestones aligned with your priorities. We agree the scope, deliverables, price and acceptance criteria for each milestone before work begins. At each milestone, you review the agreed deliverables and progress against the plan, with full visibility into what’s being built and why.
Launch & Handover
We handle platform compliance, store submission, and launch support. After launch, we hand over full documentation, a maintenance guide, and a clean codebase that your future team (or we) can maintain long-term. Bespoke deliverables are assigned under the agreed payment terms. Our existing tools remain ours and are licensed for use in the project; third-party components retain their licences.

Services for your project

Unity Game Development

Unity game development for studios, publishers and organisations. UK engineers taking gameplay, systems and technical delivery from prototype to release.

Explore service

Co-Development & Staff Augmentation

Unity co-development for game studios. Embed senior UK engineers in your team or give us a defined workstream, with agreed milestones and documented handover.

Explore service

Mobile Game Development

Mobile game development services for iOS and Android. UK-based Unity developers building new mobile games, porting existing titles, and improving live mobile projects.

Explore service

Performance Optimisation Services

Unity performance optimisation: thermal throttling, memory management, draw call reduction, and crash resolution. Led by a developer who worked on RuneScape Mobile.

Explore service

Game Monetisation Services

Game monetisation services for Unity: in-app purchases, ad mediation and virtual economies. Implement and test revenue systems around your audience.

Explore service

App Store Launch Support

App Store and Google Play launch support for Unity games. Build checks, store listings, test releases and help resolving submission review issues.

Explore service

What Our Clients Say

“Initially hired David to review code for the game at a very early stage and was blown away by his abilities and after a round with the board we hired David as lead developer for the project. He brought with him other developers who also did great work and I can say with full confidence there would be no Domi Online without their expertise.”

Project: Domi Online

“David and Adam's workflow is always carried out with sophistication and passion, providing our team with vast expertise of the industry whilst maintaining a high standard of work and pride in each component fulfilled. Dedicated members who always goes above and beyond expectations to deliver. Great asset to any team!”

Project: Domi Online

“David worked with us on a 2 month project to build a mobile game. He has shown throughout his thorough knowledge of Unity and C#. Communication was clear. And he has made himself available when we needed him most. We continue to work with him on ad hoc basis.”

Project: Pocket Factory

“Awesome job! I really look forward to working with the guys again very soon!”

Project: Nova Blast

Already an established studio with a development team? See our game studios page.

Want to understand our co-development process in detail? See our co-development and staff augmentation service.

Thinking about cost? Our game development cost guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Typically within 1-2 weeks. Once we have agreed scope and signed contracts, we request repository access and a brief technical onboarding document. Our developers are experienced at reading existing Unity codebases and are productive from the first sprint.

We work on paid engagements, weekly rates, milestone-based, or fixed-price per feature. We do not take equity or revenue share. This keeps the relationship clean and ensures our incentives are aligned with shipping your game on time.

We work in short sprints with clear deliverables, so you always have a shippable build at the end of each cycle. If funding changes, we can pause cleanly. You own all the code, documentation, and assets produced up to that point.

We can help you build a polished vertical slice or demo that makes a strong impression on publishers and investors. We have experience building pitch-ready prototypes that demonstrate core gameplay loops, visual quality, and technical feasibility.

You do. The bespoke project deliverables are assigned to you upon payment, while our pre-existing tools and frameworks remain ours and are licensed for use within the delivered project. We sign NDAs before accessing your codebase and do not retain copies of your proprietary code after the engagement ends.

We work across Unity 2021 LTS through the latest 6000.x releases, with experience in both URP and HDRP. For mobile-focused titles we typically recommend URP for its performance characteristics. We also have production experience with FishNet for multiplayer.

It depends on scope, platform, and complexity, so we quote after a technical assessment rather than off a price list. As a floor, prototype engagements start from £10,000 and full development projects from £15,000, both billed on a milestone basis so you are never paying for work that has not been delivered. For general benchmarks, see our cost guide and interactive estimator.

Yes. We have built rapid prototypes and MVPs in as little as 2–4 weeks. For very early-stage projects, we can work on a fixed-price basis for a defined scope, keeping the engagement focused and the budget predictable.

Our game studios page is designed for established studios that already have a development team and need to augment capacity or bring in specialist skills for a specific phase. This page is for startups and indie teams that may not have an engineering team yet and need a partner to take them from concept to launch. The service is the same senior developers and the same engineering quality; the engagement model is shaped around the stage of your company.

Have a Game Concept You Need to Turn Into Something Playable?

Tell us what you’ve already validated, where the project is today and what you need to prove, build or ship next.

Tell Us About Your Project

Discuss the first version of your game

Tell us about your concept, funding stage and what you need to validate. We'll discuss a realistic first scope and the technical risks to address.

Start by telling us what kind of help you need.

Location

London, United Kingdom

Response Time

We typically respond within 1 to 2 business days.

Game Development for Startups & Indies

Senior Unity developers who embed into your team from prototype to App Store. No equity required. Bespoke work is assigned under the agreed payment terms; our existing tools are licensed for use in the project, and third-party components retain their licences.

The Startup Studio Problem

Games We’ve Built With Startups & Indies

Case Studies

Domi Online

RuneScape Mobile

Our Clients

Our Team's Track Record

Where Are You Right Now?

I Have a Concept and Need a Prototype

I Have a Prototype and Need to Ship

I Have a Live Game and Need Help Scaling

I Need a Vertical Slice to Raise Funding

How We Work With Startups

Prototype to Launch

Runway-Friendly Pricing

Embedded Team, Not Outsourcing

Ship-Ready Code Quality

Multi-Platform From Day One

Full-Stack Game Engineering

From First Call to First Build

1Discovery Call (Free)

2Technical Assessment

3Onboarding (Week 1)

4Fixed-Price Milestones

5Launch & Handover

Services for your project

Unity Game Development

Co-Development & Staff Augmentation

Mobile Game Development

Performance Optimisation Services

Game Monetisation Services

App Store Launch Support

Have a Game Concept You Need to Turn Into Something Playable?

Discuss the first version of your game

Discuss the first version of your game

Discovery Call (Free)

Technical Assessment

Onboarding (Week 1)

Fixed-Price Milestones

Launch & Handover