Unchained Entertainment

About Unchained Entertainment

Unchained Entertainment, formerly known as City State Entertainment, is an independent game development studio established in 2011. The company was co-founded by Mark Jacobs, a veteran of the massive multiplayer online (MMO) genre, and Andrew Meggs. Jacobs, who serves as President and CEO, has a long history in the gaming industry, having founded Mythic Entertainment in 1995 and led the creation of successful titles like "Dark Age of Camelot." His extensive background in developing large-scale online games is a driving force behind Unchained Entertainment's strategic focus. The firm's rebranding in early 2024 was a strategic move to align the company's identity with its proprietary game engine, the Unchained Engine.

The studio's core business revolves around creating and publishing multiplayer online games for PC and console, with distribution on platforms like Steam. A key component of their strategy is the development and utilization of their proprietary Unchained Engine. This technology is engineered to support thousands of concurrent players and non-player characters (NPCs) in real-time combat scenarios without sacrificing performance, a significant technical differentiator in the MMO market. The company's business model includes not only developing its own games but also positioning its engine for future licensing to other developers.

Unchained Entertainment is developing two primary titles. "Final Stand: Ragnarok" is a player-versus-environment (PvE) hack-and-slash game where teams combat large hordes of enemies. The second, "Camelot Unchained," is a player-versus-player (PvP) focused MMORPG, considered a spiritual successor to Jacobs' earlier work, "Dark Age of Camelot," and financed partly through a successful Kickstarter campaign and significant personal investment from Jacobs. The company has secured substantial funding from investors including A16z Games, Island Capital, and The Lauder Family, enabling it to expand its team and accelerate development. The company operates as a fully remote studio with hubs near Fairfax, Virginia, and Seattle, Washington.