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StudioMDHR mortgaged homes to finish Cuphead; the 1930s-style bet sold 6M copies
Two brothers remortgaged their houses to finish a hand-drawn 1930s-cartoon run-and-gun; it sold 1M copies in two weeks and 6M by 2020.
StudioMDHR
What the business is
An independent, family-run game studio (StudioMDHR) making premium hand-animated action games; its first title was Cuphead.
Starting capital：Self-funded: Chad and Jared Moldenhauer remortgaged their homes; a Canada Media Fund grant application was rejected; Microsoft's ID@Xbox publishing deal added a little money plus marketing support.
How it started
Brothers Chad (web designer) and Jared (construction) Moldenhauer started building a game part-time from a basement around 2010 after years of imagining their own platformers, and Chad's wife Maja joined during maternity leave. They applied for a Canada Media Fund grant and were turned down; Microsoft's ID@Xbox program agreed in 2013 to publish the game on Xbox One and PC with a little funding and heavy marketing support.
What happened
After strong fan reception at E3, the family went 'all-in': they remortgaged their homes and expanded an eight-boss prototype into a full game. About 25 people eventually worked on it, 14 doing most of the work, and development ran past targets because Chad refused to approve hand-drawn art until it looked perfect. Cuphead launched 2017-09-29 on PC and Xbox One.
How it ended up
Cuphead sold over 1M copies in its first two weeks, won best debut indie, best independent game and best art direction at The Game Awards 2017, reached about 1.5M copies by December 2017, and had sold 6M across Xbox, PC, Mac and Switch by July 2020.
Background
StudioMDHR is a family-run game studio: brothers Chad (a former web designer) and Jared Moldenhauer (construction) started building a game part-time from a basement around 2010, and Chad's wife Maja, who had a biomedical-physics and finance background, joined during maternity leave. Their bet was on hand-drawn animation in the style of 1930s cartoons applied to a brutally hard run-and-gun platformer.
They applied for a grant from Canada's Media Fund and were turned down. Microsoft's ID@Xbox program then agreed in 2013 to publish the game on Xbox One and PC, putting in a little money and heavy marketing support. After strong fan reaction at E3, the family went all-in: they remortgaged their homes and expanded the eight-boss prototype into a full game; about 25 people eventually worked on it, and development overran because Chad refused to approve art until it looked right.
Cuphead launched on 2017-09-29 and sold over 1M copies in two weeks, vindicating the bet quickly. It won best debut indie game, best independent game and best art direction at The Game Awards 2017, reached about 1.5M copies by December 2017, and had sold 6M across Xbox, PC, Mac and Switch by July 2020.
What has to be true
- The 1930s hand-drawn look was a differentiator no marketing budget could buy, standing out instantly in the indie market.
- They treated difficulty as integrity: boss fights without checkpoints and only a grudging 'simple' mode, betting the challenge itself was the draw.
- Self-funding through mortgages kept creative control and all the upside, so one hit could fund the studio for life.
- Microsoft's marketing support amplified a small team with no PR plan, letting the game's look do the selling.
What can be applied
A distinctive, uncompromising creative bet can fund itself once it lands: the studio mortgaged homes on art direction and difficulty, and 1M+ sales in two weeks validated the gamble.
Aftermath
At the 2020-07-28 PlayStation 4 launch, Cuphead had sold 6M copies across Xbox, PC, Mac and Switch. The Delicious Last Course DLC was still unreleased after delays, Netflix's The Cuphead Show was in development, and the studio remained independent and family-run.
Sources
- Cuphead developers bet everything on a 1930s-cartoon-style game
- Cuphead has sold over 1 million copies in the two weeks since it launched
- Cuphead Is Out Now on PS4, No News on Delicious Last Course DLC
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