PC or console to mobile
Touch UX redesigned around the way people hold a phone, with thermal and memory budgets managed for sustained sessions and testing across the Android device spread.
See the When Ski Lifts Go Wrong port
Game Porting Services
Bring an existing game to PC, iOS or Android with senior UK Unity engineers. We assess the source project, adapt controls and interfaces, and test performance on the target hardware.
Summary
- Who it's for
- Teams bringing a PC or console game to mobile, a mobile game to PC and Steam, or a game in an unsupported engine to Unity.
- What you get
- Controls and interfaces redesigned for the target device, performance budgets set on real hardware, platform services, device testing and store submission.
- How it starts
- A fixed-price feasibility audit with a written report: cost and timeline ranges and a verdict to proceed, adapt the scope or defer. The report is yours to keep.
- Next step
- Tell us where the game runs today and where you want to take it. We reply within 1 to 2 business days.
Bringing When Ski Lifts Go Wrong from Unity 2018 to Unity 6 and mobile
Developed by Ocean View Games for Hugecalf Studios.
When Ski Lifts Go Wrong is Hugecalf Studios' physics-based construction puzzler, released on Steam and Nintendo Switch with Unity 2018. After Epic Games approached Hugecalf about its store, we spent three months preparing Windows, Android and iOS versions together. That meant migrating the game to Unity 6, a Long Term Support (LTS) release, redesigning its controls and interface for touch and optimising the mobile builds.
The mobile builds went from around 500MB to 150MB and run at 60fps on every phone and tablet we tested. Side-by-side play comparisons confirmed the physics needed no retuning, and all three platforms build from one shared repository.
An unfinished brief is fine. The first conversation helps establish scope.
What are you starting with?
Porting is a specialist discipline, not a downscale-and-ship exercise. Tell us where the game runs now and where you want to take it.
Mobile to PC and Steam
Resolution and aspect-ratio scaling, keyboard, mouse and controller input, Steam Deck compatibility testing and integration with Steamworks (Steam's developer toolkit), with session design reworked for longer desktop play.
Explore Unity developmentEngine-to-Unity rebuild
Games in unsupported engines rebuilt in Unity, treating the original as the specification. This overlaps with our legacy modernisation work.
Explore legacy modernisationHow a porting engagement works
Three stages. The first is fixed price with a standalone deliverable, and nothing after it happens unless the audit supports it and you agree to proceed.
1. Feasibility audit
A codebase review, target-platform risk assessment and a written report with honest cost and timeline ranges and a clear verdict: proceed, adapt the scope or defer the port. The report is yours to keep either way.
2. Porting plan
A proposal setting out milestones, timeline, scope and technical risks. The engineers who assessed the project stay involved in the delivery.
3. Execution
Milestone billing with a playable build every week, so you see the port running on real hardware throughout rather than at the end.
Porting projects delivered by Ocean View Games
Platform moves, Unity upgrades and engine rebuilds delivered by Ocean View Games for its clients.
Nova Blast
SDK modernisation and Android port
The Challenge: Bring Foil Hat Games' live iOS title to Android without disrupting their release schedule.
The Result: Modernised software development kits (SDKs), updated level tooling and an Android release alongside the existing iOS build.
Nub Remake
Engine-to-Unity rebuild
The Challenge: Recreate an isometric puzzle game from a legacy Java app, using the original as the specification.
The Result: A Unity remake with playable builds on PC, iOS and Android and a touch control redesign for mobile.
The full write-ups: When Ski Lifts Go Wrong, Unity 2018 to Unity 6 and mobile, Nova Blast, iOS to Android, Nova Blast, Unity 6 upgrade with the download cut from 187MB to 137MB and Nub, Java to Unity on PC and mobile.
What changes between platforms
Input models, memory budgets, thermal limits and session-length expectations all change between platforms. The work is agreed against your game before it starts.
Input model
A desktop interface dropped onto a touchscreen fails. We redesign the interaction model for the target device rather than overlaying buttons on the old one.
Performance budgets
Memory, draw calls and thermal headroom are profiled on real target hardware, not in the editor, and the budget is set before the port begins.
Session design
A game built around two-minute mobile sessions needs more than a window resize to feel right on PC, and the reverse is also true. Pacing and save points are reworked.
Platform services
Store SDKs, achievements, cloud saves, purchases and controller certification are scoped against the target platform's requirements.
Device coverage
We agree a representative device range early and test across it, rather than validating on a single flagship and hoping.
Store submission
Submission requirements, ratings and build formats for each target store are planned alongside development, not discovered at the end.
Working together
Start with a free conversation about where the game runs today, where you want to take it and what you know about the existing codebase.
Most engagements begin with a fixed-scope feasibility audit. It produces an honest cost and timeline range and a clear verdict, and the report is yours to keep whether or not we do the port.
David and Adam stay close to the engineering and technical decisions. We can work alongside your own developers and creative team, bringing in trusted specialists for art, audio or quality assurance (QA) where needed.
Production runs in agreed milestones with weekly playable builds, followed by device testing, store submission and any agreed ongoing support.
Meet the teamScope your port before we talk
Free tools and guides to size the work.
Porting Feasibility Checker
How complex your port is and what needs reworking for the target platform.
Porting Cost Estimator
A cost range based on source platform, target platform and complexity.
Mobile Game Porting Guide
The engineering behind a PC-to-mobile port, start to finish.
Is Your Game Ready to Port?
What makes a codebase cheap or expensive to move.
Questions about game porting
A non-Unity game may need rebuilding rather than a direct port. We assess the source, assets and original behaviour before recommending an approach. See our legacy game modernisation service for engine migrations.
The timeline depends on the source project, touch controls, interface changes, dependencies and device performance. As a guide, our When Ski Lifts Go Wrong Unity 6 upgrade and mobile port took three months, the Nova Blast Android port and update took three months, and the Nub rebuild from Java to Unity took four. A feasibility review establishes what can be retained and gives you a range specific to the game, including testing and release preparation.
It depends on the size of the codebase, how much of the interface needs redesigning for touch and how many devices and stores are in scope. The work starts with a fixed-price feasibility audit, then the port itself is billed by milestone at £500/day per developer, ex VAT. For an early range, use the Porting Cost Estimator.
Yes, and an out-of-date engine is often the first thing a port has to fix. We moved When Ski Lifts Go Wrong from Unity 2018 to Unity 6 before adapting it for mobile, and took Nova Blast from Unity 2019 to Unity 6 in one week, cutting its download from 187MB to 137MB. The Unity Migration Checker shows what an upgrade from your version involves.
We can include build preparation, technical submission support and review feedback in the porting scope. We agree who owns the accounts, listing assets, policy declarations and final release decision.
We have not shipped a console title, so we assess console requests individually. Platform access, development hardware and certification expertise need to be established before we commit. We will be direct if a specialist console porting studio is a better fit.
You receive the reasoning in writing, including the technical constraints and any alternative scope worth considering. The report is yours to keep and use when deciding whether to proceed, defer the work or brief another team.
Potentially. Account systems, matchmaking, game versions, platform rules and the networking architecture all affect feasibility. We review those dependencies and scope cross-platform play explicitly.
Thinking about bringing your game to another platform?
Tell us where the game runs today, where you want to take it and what you know about the existing codebase.
Discuss your port