Investment firm Emona Capital LLP announced today that it has completed the successful buyout of Secret Mode — the publisher behind the likes of A Little To The Left, Wobbledogs, Loddlenaut, and more — from Sumo Group, a Tencent subsidiary.
This isn’t the firm’s first foray into the gaming biz, either. Emona Capital currently owns development studios Relic Entertainment and Amber Studio, though it has negotiated this buyout with Secret Mode leadership Ed Blincoe and James Schall to ensure that the company now runs as an independent publisher “focused on supporting indie PC and console games”.
In a Secret Mode statement, Schall stated that taking the company independent means “we can now put all our efforts into uncovering the indie gems that gamers never knew they needed in their lives,” teasing, “We are working hard to empower independent developers across the globe, and hope to make some exciting announcements on this front in the coming months”.
It sounds like exciting times for the studio. Let’s not forget that the publisher’s former owner Sumo Group laid off 15% of its staff in 2024, before announcing last month that there would be further “impact” on its workforce as it pivoted away from original IP projects.
What do you hope to see from Secret Mode next? Let us know in the comments.
[source wearesecretmode.com]
