Washington state, and the Seattle area in particular, has been a hub for video game development for years. Washington: Home to the heavy-hitters and innovative indies, this classic western state that includes Seattle bellows with pride. Here are some of the biggest video game companies in Washington state as we head into 2025:
Major Players
Microsoft (Xbox Game Studios)
In addition to its Surface hardware business, Microsoft is a major player in gaming with the Xbox division and, specifically 23 game development studios under the larger umbrella of Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft’s big franchises such as Halo, Forza and Minecraft are all staples at Redmond.
Nintendo of America
Despite being a Japanese company, Nintendo’s North American headquarters is in Redmond WA. The maker of venerable franchises that include Mario, Zelda and Pokémon has been based in Washington state since 1982.
Valve Corporation
Valve, created by former Microsoft guys Gabe Newell and Mike Harrington is the powerhouse behind hit franchises like Half-Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead as well as their ubiquitous PC gaming portal Steam. The Bellevue-based company is still privately-held.
Indie Darlings
Bungie
Bungie, developer of the original Halo games and Destiny series, went independent as a studio when it split from Microsoft in 2007. The Bellevue-based developer was later acquired by PlayStation maker Sony.
PopCap Games
PopCap Games — a studio most known for casual gaming franchises such as Plants vs. Zombies, Bejeweled and Peggle — was later absorbed by Electronic Arts (EA). PopCap was founded in 2000 and has an office here in Seattle.
Sucker Punch Productions
Sucker Punch Productions is best known for the Sly Cooper and Infamous series of video games, founded in 1997 lest was acquired by Sony on September20 throughout2011. The studio would stay in Bellevue and go on to release the PS4 exclusive samurai epic Ghost of Tsushima more than two years later, with that game arriving just last summer.
Rising Stars
Doubledown Interactive
DoubleDown Interactive, a subsidiary of IGT and the leader in the worldwide social casino gaming space, is based in Seattle. DoubleU Games acquired the company in 2017 and Hiro Capital took it public this year.
Starform
Starform is a Seattle-based indie studio founded in 2018 that’s developing an unannounced sci-fi strategy game. The company was started by former developers from Bungie, Epic Games, and Blizzard Entertainment.
Lightfox Games
Lightfox Games was formed in 2019 by a several Big Fish Games veterans with experience as mobile game developers. In 2020, the Bellevue-based studio took in $3.3 million of seed funding and is up to something for its debut release.
Washington is home to an array of video game development studios, and from industry titans to scrappy upstart developers like Camouflaj, the state plays a big part in gaming. This, coupled with a rich talent pool and history of innovative studios developing the industry’s best titles when possible means that Washington State should continue to be at least among those places where future groundbreaking games could come from out in America.
Conclusion
As we get into the mid-2024s, Washington continues to be a hotbed of video game development. The big boys continue to remain active with Microsoft and Nintendo still going strong, but now indie studios have exploded onto the scene too: becoming get in on the act. Palansky said: “The one thing that won’t change is Washington will be the king of innovation when it comes to interactive entertainment.
