4J Studios expands into game publishing

Scottish game developer 4J Studios has established its own publishing operation.

The studio: You'll be familiar with some of its past work.

• The studio, which was founded in 2005, has traditionally made a name for itself by developing titles.
• It's perhaps best known for porting Minecraft to consoles and handheld devices, as well as creating supplementary content for the sandbox game.
• Other titles listed in the portfolio on its official website include unofficial GoldenEye sequel Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Star Trek: Conquest.

The expansion: It announced the decision on October 25.

• 4J Studios' debut title as a publisher will be Skye Tales, a game from Puny Astronaut — a studio it invested six figures in in 2018 — that's due to be released on Nintendo Switch in 2023.
• It'll also publish games from other Scottish developers, namely Ant Workshop and StormCloud, at a later date.
• "Our ambition is to establish game brands we are close to, and believe in, and help them evolve into successful franchises," said 4J Studios Chairman Chris van der Kuyl.