Blendo Games
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Video games |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Brendon Chung |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Products |
|
| Website | blendogames |
Blendo Games is a United States-based independent video game developer situated in Culver City, California. Established in 2010 by Brendon Chung, the company primarily functions as a solo operation. The studio first gained attention with titles such as Gravity Bone and Flotilla, followed by the well-received Atom Zombie Smasher. Its catalog encompasses a variety of game genres.
Background
Brendon Chung, the founder, initially engaged in modding popular games like Quake 2 and Half-Life. He later joined Pandemic Studios as a designer, contributing to projects including The Lord of the Rings: Conquest and Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers. Concurrently, he worked on personal endeavors such as the episodic series Citizen Abel. His debut official title was the espionage-themed Gravity Bone, released in 2008.
After Electronic Arts shut down Pandemic Studios in 2009, Chung created Flotilla, a space combat game influenced by earlier ideas, which launched in 2010. That same year, he also released Air Forte, an educational game blending gameplay with quizzes on math, geography, and vocabulary.
In 2011, Blendo Games introduced Atom Zombie Smasher, a real-time strategy game that received critical acclaim, was showcased at the 2011 Penny Arcade Expo, and featured in the 3rd Humble Indie Bundle. The following year saw the release of Thirty Flights of Loving, a sequel to Gravity Bone, developed to support a Kickstarter campaign for the Idle Thumbs podcast.
Chung dedicated over four years to creating Quadrilateral Cowboy, which debuted in 2016 and further enhanced the studio’s reputation for innovative gameplay design. In August 2018, the virtual reality follow-up Flotilla 2 was released.
In October 2018, Blendo Games announced its stealth first-person shooter project Skin Deep, later partnering with publisher Annapurna Interactive. This title is slated for release in April 2025 and marks the studio’s ongoing commitment to immersive gaming experiences.
Culture
Blendo Games operates largely as a solo venture under founder and CEO Brendon Chung, who works from a shared workspace known as Glitch City. Although primarily independent, Chung collaborates with experts on select projects: Chris Remo composed music for Thirty Flights of Loving, while Tynan Wales co-designed Quadrilateral Cowboy. Aaron Melcher was responsible for Mac and Linux ports, with Ethan Lee adapting the art book for those platforms. Playtesting is supported by friends and family, illustrating a streamlined yet cooperative approach to development.
Barista
Barista comprises a collection of four first-person Windows titles developed by Chung, focusing on characters experiencing awakenings. The series began as a modification for Doom II: Hell on Earth, drawing inspiration from the Doom Bible and Bungie's Marathon. The follow-up, produced as an independent college project, presents a non-linear storyline involving a spaceship pilot and features distinctive elements such as a talking skull. The third entry is a mod for Doom 3, created to explore the capabilities and constraints of the Id Tech 4 engine ahead of more ambitious endeavors. The final game is a Half-Life 2 mod, demonstrating Chung’s deliberate approach to leveraging established engines to enhance his technical expertise and broaden his creative portfolio.
Games
| Year | Title | Platform(s) | Publisher |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Gravity Bone | Windows | Blendo Games |
| 2010 | Flotilla | Xbox 360, Windows | |
| Air Forte | Xbox 360, Windows, Linux, macOS | ||
| 2011 | Atom Zombie Smasher | Windows, Linux, macOS | |
| 2012 | Thirty Flights of Loving | ||
| 2016 | Quadrilateral Cowboy | ||
| 2018 | Flotilla 2 | Windows (HTC Vive/Oculus Rift) | |
| 2025 | Skin Deep | Windows | Annapurna Interactive |