Fall Guys veterans launch new studio Panic Stations to make multiplayer co-op games

A group of veteran Fall Guys developers have launched Panic Stations, a new developer focused on “fun, silly, slapstick” co-op multiplayer games, with the stated ambition of releasing multiple titles each year.

The founding team of Steve Taylor, Dan Hoang, Joe Walsh, and Oliver Hindle all held senior positions working on the smash hit Fall Guys at Mediatonic, and fellow founder Paul Croft was the co-founder of that studio.

The studio’s stated goal is to make “fun, fresh, physics based co-op games with a sense of humour, and release a few every year.” The first will be revealed “soon”. The studio’s branding is heavily pigeon-themed, and includes an in-universe trailer and social network.

“I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get the proverbial band back together and make the silliest possible games we can dream up,” said Walsh, who is serving as Design Director at the studio.

“I’m a huge fan of the online co-op space and it’s been amazing to see it evolve over the last few years,” said Paul Croft. “It is really exciting to team-up with some old friends – we’re aiming to build games that bring immediate joy to players and bring people closer together.”

Mediatonic was acquired by Epic Games in 2021 following the breakout success of multiplayer challenge title Fall Guys, which shipped during the pandemic and found a huge audience at a time when in-person encounters were strictly limited. The studio later suffered significant job losses when Epic cut staff in 2023.

Panic Stations is the first brand-new studio launched under Skeleton Crew, a new initiative announced by Croft earlier this month. It’s described as “a new group of independent games companies connected by shared values – small teams, focus, creativity and kindness” with the ambition “to build and empower great studios like Panic Stations, so that talented people can do their best work.” The founding teams were Payload, Brightrock and Mythwright, who previously collaborated on PC releases including TerraTech and Kaiju Cleanup.

The studio is currently recruiting for a small number of art, engineering and level design roles.