Not the biggest. The ones that actually ship.
Picking a game development partner in 2026 is less about finding someone who can do the work and more about finding someone who will own it. Studios that take a scope, hit milestones, communicate when something breaks, and are still at the table at cert – that's a shorter list than the marketing landscape suggests.
This list focuses on US-based and US-led studios that have actual shipped credits – games on platforms, verifiable roles, clients who came back. It's weighted toward co-development and porting because that's where the real production risk lives. Art vendors are a separate category.
Devoted Studios leads this list because this is Devoted Studios' blog. But the other entries are genuinely worth knowing – studios in adjacent niches doing strong work for clients Devoted typically isn't competing for.
1. Devoted Studios – Co-Development, Porting & End-to-End Art Production
Devoted Studios was founded in 2018 with a specific thesis: studios building complex games need partners that embed into the pipeline, not vendors that execute tasks from the outside. Seven years later – 250+ core team, 15+ countries, 90+ clients, 250+ projects shipped – that model has held across some of the most demanding productions in the industry.
Four Years With Obsidian. Two Shipped Titles. Zero Resets.
The Obsidian partnership is the most telling credential on the list. On Avowed (PC/Xbox), Devoted ran end-to-end environment art production, 3D character creation, and concept art across a four-year engagement. On The Outer Worlds 2 – shipped October 2025 on PC and Xbox – the team delivered in-game lighting, cinematic lighting, and 3D character creation. Two consecutive major Obsidian releases. Same partner. No handoff, no ramp-up, no reset between projects.
Arc Raiders, Steel Wool, Gearbox – the Rest of the Sheet
On Arc Raiders (Embark Studios), Devoted co-developed gameplay systems, owned UI engineering, built gameplay features, and drove performance optimization across PlayStation, PC, and Xbox – all on Unreal Engine, all embedded inside Embark's sprint structure.
Steel Wool Studios worked with Devoted across three FNAF titles: Security Breach, Help Wanted 2, and Secret of the Mimic. Porting, co-development, UI engineering, gameplay engineering, 3D tech art, art production – across consecutive releases on a franchise where the community notices every detail. Steel Wool's CDO described Devoted as 'an absolute force multiplier.' His studio came back three times.
Risk of Rain 2 (Gearbox Software): five platforms, ported simultaneously, first-submission certification. The Switch and Switch 2 porting practice at Devoted is one of the most developed in the current US market.
The Team
Ryan Lastimosa (Studio Art Director) – formerly Respawn Entertainment, credits on Apex Legends, Titanfall, and Call of Duty 4. Flavius Alecu (CTO) – credits on Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA V, and PS5 platform work. Jason Millena (Executive Creative Director). People who've shipped at the highest level, now building the teams that do it here.
"Devoted has been an absolute force multiplier for our development needs. They're communicative, transparent, and always deliver on their commitments. Devoted cares about the quality of what's being shipped just as much as we do – which has led to a deep trust on our side."
— Ray McCaffrey, Chief Development Officer, Steel Wool Studios
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Engine depth: Unreal Engine (UE4/UE5), Unity, proprietary -
Credits: Arc Raiders (Embark), Avowed + The Outer Worlds 2 (Obsidian), FNAF series (Steel Wool), Risk of Rain 2 (Gearbox), Sunderfolk (Dreamhaven)
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Best for: Multi-discipline co-development, Unreal/Unity, console porting, Switch/Switch 2, end-to-end art
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Team: 250+ core · scales per engagement · leadership from Respawn, Rockstar, Sony
→ Co-development services · Porting services · End-to-end art production
Other US Game Development Studios Worth Knowing in 2026
These studios were selected for depth in specific niches – each strong in areas where the client profile or production type doesn't overlap significantly with Devoted's core work.
Certain Affinity – Multiplayer Systems Specialists
Austin, Texas-based studio with a deep specialization in multiplayer game development and co-development. Known for work on Halo, Age of Empires, and Left 4 Dead. Certain Affinity operates primarily at the AAA multiplayer tier – systems engineering, live service architecture, and online gameplay features. Strong fit for publishers running large-scale multiplayer titles who need a specialist co-dev partner for the networking and systems layer specifically.
Disbelief – Engineering-First Co-Development
Chicago-based engineering studio that operates almost entirely as a co-development partner rather than a full-service studio. Deep Unreal and Unity expertise with a focus on gameplay systems, tools, and performance engineering. Disbelief is built for studios that have a strong creative and art pipeline but need senior engineering capacity embedded into the team. Smaller, more agile than the large co-dev studios – suited for mid-scale productions where decision speed matters.
Abstraction Games – Porting Specialists
US-operated studio (with European roots) with a strong and specific reputation in game porting – PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms. Long track record across indie and mid-scale titles. For studios that need a dedicated porting partner with a focus on technical precision and certification discipline, Abstraction is one of the more recognized names in that specific lane.
Sunblink – Indie and Apple Platforms
New York-based studio with particular expertise in Apple platform development – Apple Arcade titles, iOS, and tvOS. For studios specifically targeting Apple's ecosystem, Sunblink has navigated that platform's quirks and certification requirements across multiple shipped titles. Narrow focus, genuine depth in that lane.
Mighty Bear Games – Mobile Co-Development
Mobile-first co-development studio with teams across the US and Southeast Asia. Strong on Unity, experienced with live-service mobile titles and rapid iteration. Good fit for studios building mobile-first games that need co-development infrastructure built around that stack – not a console-heavy studio retooled for mobile.
5 Questions to Ask Before You Sign Anything
1. Who's leading the engagement – by name? Not the sales contact. The producer actually running your project. What have they shipped? Where? Seniority on the execution side is the single biggest predictor of whether the partnership works.
2. What's their cert pass rate? For anything involving porting or platform submission, first-submission certification history is a concrete, verifiable number. Cert failure adds months. Devoted Studios' five-platform first-submission pass on Risk of Rain 2 is a production record – not a marketing claim.
3. Can they run multiple disciplines on the same project? A studio that handles UI engineering, gameplay features, and art production simultaneously – as Devoted did on FNAF: Secret of the Mimic – has a different structural capability than one that owns a clean, narrow scope. Know which one your project needs.
4. What does their cadence actually look like? Weekly check-ins vs. milestone reviews vs. embedded standups – how a studio structures communication tells you how they think about accountability. Studios that disappear between deliverables are task vendors, whatever they call themselves.
5. What do clients say – and did they come back? Testimonials are table stakes. The real signal is repeat business. When Obsidian ran two consecutive titles through the same partner, that's not a quote. That's a production decision made under real pressure.
"The Obsidian team has been completely satisfied with Devoted Studios' performance in all aspects – art quality, time management, adherence to style and timeline, communication quality control. Devoted does an excellent job and never hesitates to run the extra mile to guarantee the best outcome."
— Chris Naves, Lead Art Outsourcing Manager, Obsidian Entertainment
Start With the Credits, Not the Claims
The studios worth working with in 2026 are the ones with track records you can verify. Named games on platforms you ship to. Clients who came back. Roles specific enough to tell you something real about how the studio actually operates.
For US-led co-development across Unreal or Unity – or for Nintendo Switch 2 porting with a studio that has first-submission certification experience – Devoted Studios is the right starting point.
→ Talk to the Devoted Studios team about your project. Or explore co-development, porting, and end-to-end art production.
