4J Studios is most well-known in the gaming world for developing a number of Minecraft titles for consoles, bringing many of the eternally-popular sandbox games to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. Founded in 2005, the Scottish studio has focused on game development since the beginning, but it looks like that may change going forward. According to a new report, 4J is interested to switch things over to video game publishing. The Dundee-based studio will publish the Nintendo Switch project Skye Tales in 2023 to kick things off.
This switch began after an investment fund was set up through Chroma Ventures in March of last year. 4J Studios has noted that it has “invested significantly” in what the company’s co-founders Paddy Burns and Chris van der Kuyl have selected as “rising stars in the Scottish games industry.” More titles will be announced next year as the company takes a “games for everyone” approach to publishing.
“Our ambition is to establish game brands we are close to, and believe in, and help them evolve into successful franchises,” said Chris van der Kuyl. “We believe that quality does not necessarily come from larger scale or shorter timescales. To that end, we are taking our time to work with all our games teams to develop games and strategies that fit their unique capabilities. This means trying to align everyone with the best fit for their particular needs.”
In a chat with Game Developer, van der Kuyl also stressed that 4J Studios wants to avoid a “one size fits all” mindset when approaching publishing, and hopes to work with each of its partners extensively and individually to tailor things to fit specific needs. At the end of the day, van der Kuyl wants to publish games that are fun, and the company hopes to develop a series of franchises, all with DLC and expansions to keep interest long-term.
“Overall, for a game to come from the 4J stable, we want it to offer players a truly enjoyable piece of entertainment from the first play,” he said. “Whilst we want our games to have beautiful art and engaging music as well as being built on great technology we believe a game is first and foremost a compelling interactive experience.”
A lengthy interview with van der Kuyl is expected to be published by GamesIndustry.biz later this week.
In its history, 4J Studios also ported The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to PlayStation 3. Curiously, it also brought Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie to the Xbox 360. Between 2012 and 2017, 4J ported Minecraft to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch. The company also developed the popular title Perfect Dark for the Xbox 360 in 2010.