Supergiant Games
Supergiant Games, LLC is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in San Francisco. It was founded in 2009 by Amir Rao and Gavin Simon, and is known for the games Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, Hades and Hades II.
Also recorded as Circle Confusion
Supergiant Games

Official GDC · Flickr: GDC China 2011 Keynotes · CC BY 2.0
- Name
- Supergiant Games, LLC
- Founded
- 2009
- Headquarters
- San Jose
- Activity
- video game industry
- Products
- Bastion · Transistor · Pyre
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Documentary summary
Supergiant Games, LLC is an American independent video game developer and publisher based in San Francisco. It was founded in 2009 by Amir Rao and Gavin Simon, and is known for the games Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, Hades and Hades II.
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Supergiant Games was founded in 2009, with headquarters in San Jose. It is a member of Linux Foundation.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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gnd · 1233391844 · wikidata · Q7643396 · wikipedia · Supergiant Games
In this article
Overview
Overview
It is associated with United States. The record gives 2009 as its date of establishment or first appearance. Its recorded seat is San Jose. The recorded field of activity is video game industry. Recorded products are Bastion, Transistor and Pyre.

Crop of a photo of Amir Rao and another man at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March 2012. Taken at a talk named "The Failure Workshop" as part of the Independent Games Summit.
Official GDC photostream

Crop of a photo of Amir Rao and another man at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March 2012. Taken at a talk named "The Failure Workshop" as part of the Independent Games Summit.
Official GDC photostream
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Supergiant Games, LLC • Type — Private • Industry — Video games • Founders — * Amir Rao • Gavin Simon • Hq Location City — San Francisco, California • Hq Location Country — U.S. • Key People — Amir Rao (studio operations) • Products — * Bastion • Transistor • Pyre • Hades • Hades II • Num Employees — 25 • Num Employees Year — 2025
History
History
• Illustration — Amir Rao, co-founder of Supergiant Games, in 2012 Supergiant Games was formed in 2009 by Amir Rao and Gavin Simon, both previously of EA Los Angeles, where they were involved with the Command & Conquer series. After agreeing to leave Electronic Arts, the duo moved into the same house, and began to work on a new game together. Artist Jen Zee became Supergiant's third member, and, later, its art director. Musician and composer Darren Korb was hired for audio and music work. All told, the company had only seven permanent staff in 2009, all of whom are still with Supergiant as of 2025. The studio employed a number of freelance programmers and developers at various times during the development of their first game. Their first game, Bastion, received high critical praise, being listed among several "Game of the Year" lists from game journalists. It was first shown in mid-development at the 2010 Penny Arcade Expo as one of many highlighted indie games. This attracted several publishers who wanted to help distribute the game; Supergiant chose Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, leading to the game's distribution on Xbox Live Arcade and also as a premiere title during the 2011 "Summer of Arcade" promotion. In March 2013, Supergiant announced its next title, Transistor, released on May 20, 2014. A promotion video was released on March 19. The game's protagonist, Red, is a singer in the cyberpunk city of Cloudbank who loses her voice and her bodyguard in a traumatic incident but gains a powerful USB-like sword. The game features a similar isometric viewpoint to Bastion and was also met with critical acclaim. In April 2016, the studio announced its third game, Pyre, released on July 25, 2017, for Microsoft Windows, Linux and PlayStation 4. It was described as a party-based role-playing game. In a break from its previous games, Pyre does not use an isometric viewpoint; the player's party travels across a 2D overworld, and combat takes place in a separate arena. The combat system is also very different, being described as "fantasy basketball" with which the victors of games called Rites can receive absolution for past crimes and return from their exile in a wasteland called the Downfall to their country of origin, the Commonwealth. Pyre was again regarded fondly by critics and was named Game Informer best indie RPG for that year. Supergiant's next game, Hades, was revealed at The Game Awards 2018 and released on September 17, 2020, following an early access release from December 2018. Hades is an action roguelike game based on Greek mythology, where the playable character Zagreus uses a combination of weapons, magic, and abilities to defeat enemies in procedurally-generated dungeons and escape from his father, Hades. Hades was met with critical acclaim, selling over 1 million copies and reaching "universal acclaim" status on Metacritic, with several awards won. It was nominated for nine awards at The Game Awards 2020, including for Game of the Year; Hades would end up winning two awards for Best Independent Game and Best Action. Hades wound up winning the Game of the Year awards at the 17th British Academy Games Awards, the 24th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and the 21st Game Developers Choice Awards. At The Game Awards 2022, Supergiant announced Hades II. Like the original Hades, it is a roguelite game based on Greek mythology and it was available in early access during its development from May 6, 2024, until its official release. The game's protagonist is Melinoë, daughter of Hades and younger sister of previous protagonist Zagreus, who has been raised by the witch Hecate to take down the Titan Chronos after his attack on Melinoë's family left them imprisoned and unreachable. Hades II was released on September 25, 2025, and was met with similar praise as Hades.
Games developed
Games developed
• Year — Title — Platform(s) — Genre(s) • 2011 — Bastion — Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Switch, Xbox 360, Xbox One, iOS — Action role-playing • 2014 — Transistor — Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4, Switch, iOS, Apple TV — Action role-playing, turn-based strategy • 2017 — Pyre — Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 — Action role-playing, sports • 2020 — Hades — Windows, macOS, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, iOS — Action role-playing, roguelike • 2025 — Hades II — Windows, macOS, Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S — Action role-playing, roguelike
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
2009
Supergiant Games established.
2009
Supergiant Games is recorded from 2009.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Supergiant Games”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7643396: Supergiant Games
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
scholarly publication
- Playing Bastion as a solastagic game: a case study of Supergiant Games' avant-garde era, DiGRA Digital Library, 2024
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2024
Literature
Literature
Playing Bastion as a solastagic game: a case study of Supergiant Games' avant-garde era, DiGRA Digital Library, 2024
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Stewart, Marcus. One More Run: The Making and Mythology of Hades II. Game Informer. 34 5. 366. 38–49. May 2024.
- 2.Li, Roland. Independent S.F. studio's video game sold millions of copies. Its sequel could be even bigger. San Francisco Chronicle. September 25, 2025.
- 3.Wallace, Kimberley. The Story Behind Supergiant Games' Bastion. Game Informer.
- 4.Wallace, Kimberley. The Story Behind Supergiant Games' Bastion. Game Informer. 2021-04-16.
- 5.Jungreis, Max. The cofounder of Supergiant, which created hit video game Hades, quit his job and moved in with his dad to make games. Here's how his team manages the workload in an industry struggling with burnout. Business Insider.
- 6.The Holistic Master of Video Game Music: An Interview with Darren Korb. The Indie Game Website. 2018-03-09.
- 7.Caoili, Eric. GDC: EA LA Vets Form Digital Download Dev Supergiant. Gamasutra. March 12, 2010.
- 8.Marie, Meagan. SuperGiant's Bastion Is Beautiful. Game Informer. September 4, 2010.
- 9.Anwer, Rizwan. Bastion Sells 500,000 Copies And Wins Over 60 Awards. Wccftech. 2012-01-03.
- 10.Gallaway, Brad. PAX 2010 – The Scoop. GameCritics.com.
- 11.Cullen, Johnny. Supergiant: Warner "bought into" our "vision" of Bastion. VG247. July 19, 2011.
- 12.Transistor – Reveal Trailer. YouTube. March 19, 2013.
- 13.Tang, Stephen. If You Love Expedition 33's Turn-Based Combat, This Is The Perfect Indie Game For You. ScreenRant.
- 14.Transistor: The Giant Sword-Wielding Female Protagonist Game. The Mary Sue. 2014-05-17.
- 15.Nunneley, Stephany. Transistor from Supergiant Games gets a reveal trailer. VG247. March 19, 2013.
- 16.Transistor Is Free on Epic Games Store Starting Today.
- 17.Matulef, Jeffrey. Bastion and Transistor dev announces RPG Pyre. Eurogamer. April 19, 2016.
- 18.TheVerge. Pyre is a mystical take on basketball from the team behind Transistor. July 24, 2017.
- 19.Kimberley Wallace. The 2017 RPG Of The Year Awards. Game Informer. January 7, 2018.
- 20.Hasan, Maruf. Hades has sold 1 million copies and that is no surprise. EIP Gaming. September 22, 2020.
- 21.Byford, Sam. Hades is a new game from the makers of Pyre and Transistor, and it's out now in early access. The Verge. December 6, 2018.
- 22.Kerr, Chris. Hades has sold over 1 million copies in under two years. www.gamasutra.com. September 21, 2020.
- 23.Bafta Games Awards 2021: Hades takes Best Game. BBC News. 2021-03-25.
- 24.Middler, Jordan. Hades 2 announced at The Game Awards. Video Games Chronicle. December 8, 2022.
- 25.Friscia, John. Hades II Announced by Supergiant Games, Enters Early Access in 2023. The Escapist. 2022-12-08.
- 26.Parrish, Ash. Hades II early access begins today. The Verge. 2024-05-06.
- 27.Peters, Jay. Hades II just keeps getting better. The Verge.
- 28.King, Jade. Killing Chronos In Hades 2 Is Only The Beginning. TheGamer.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Playing Bastion as a solastagic game: a case study of Supergiant Games' avant-garde era, DiGRA Digital Library, 2024Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Those registers additionally record the form Supergiant Games (Firma).
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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