Game Studio Names
Your studio name is the brand that outlasts any single game â choose one that can hold everything you'll build.
Famous Game Studio Names That Nailed It
Real-world names that became iconic. Here's what makes them work.
A perfect studio name â it combines cosmic scale ('supergiant' is an astronomical classification for the largest stars) with a sense of ambition and quality. It's memorable, easy to abbreviate (Supergiant), and ages well across a diverse catalogue.
A genuinely brilliant studio name that works on multiple levels: the literal phrase 'play dead' is childlike and slightly dark; the compound 'Playdead' suggests both the games they make (haunting, atmospheric) and the act of play simultaneously. It's a name that tells you everything about the studio's aesthetic.
Communicates work ethic (staying up all night to make games), a slight madness, and a connection to the liminal state between waking and sleep â exactly the emotional territory Insomniac's games often explore. It was also simply unusual enough to be memorable in the mid-90s game industry.
A game studio name is a long-term brand investment. Unlike a game title â which lives or dies with a single product â a studio name has to work across an entire catalogue, multiple genres, evolving team sizes, and years of creative development. The best indie studio names are flexible enough to accommodate a diverse output while still communicating a distinct creative identity.
Successful indie studio names tend to fall into a few categories: evocative single words or compounds that suggest a creative philosophy (Supergiant, Playdead, Devolver), team-personality names that communicate the people behind the work (Double Fine, Slightly Mad Studios), location or nature references that ground the identity geographically or elementally (Mojang, Rare, Naughty Dog), or invented names that feel proprietary and memorable (Bungie, Valve, Insomniac). Each approach has different strengths â understanding them helps you choose the right strategy for your studio.
Browse 30+ game studio name ideas below.
Tips for Choosing Game Studio Names
Test your studio name against the catalogues of existing successful studios â if your name could plausibly belong to a studio with a very different identity, it's not distinctive enough.
Avoid names that lock you into a specific genre â 'Horror House Games' works until you make a platformer. The best studio names communicate creative philosophy, not genre.
Consider how your studio name will look on a title screen credit ('A [Studio Name] Game') â this is one of the most prominent places your name will appear and it should feel like a moment of brand pride.
Check the domain and social handles before committing â a studio name without a clean domain creates friction for press, partners, and players trying to find you.
Abbreviations matter: 'Supergiant Games' becomes 'Supergiant'; 'Double Fine Productions' becomes 'Double Fine'. Make sure your studio name has a natural short form that you'd be happy to use as your primary brand handle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start by defining your studio's creative philosophy â what kind of games do you want to make, what values do you bring to game design, what aesthetic territory do you occupy? A name that reflects this philosophy will age better than a name chosen for pure sound or availability. Then look for words, compounds, or invented names that carry that philosophy while being memorable and available.
Generally no â genre-specific studio names limit your future options. The studios that have lasted longest tend to have names that communicate a creative approach or philosophy rather than a genre. The exception is if you're explicitly positioning as a genre specialist (a horror game studio, a visual novel studio) and don't intend to diversify.
Yes â many successful studios are named after their founders (Team17, Remedy, Naughty Dog is a Naughty Dog because of Andy Gavin's childhood pet). Personal names work especially well for solo devs and small teams where the creator's identity is inseparable from the studio's output. They do make it harder to scale or transfer the brand if the studio grows.
If you're releasing commercial games, registering your studio name as a trademark in your primary markets is strongly advisable. A trademark gives you legal recourse against studios or products that use similar names and creates clearer intellectual property records for future deals, licensing, or acquisition conversations.
A developer studio creates the games; a publisher funds, distributes, and markets them. If you're an indie developer publishing your own work, you may use the same name for both functions. If you plan to publish other studios' games in addition to your own, consider whether you want separate development and publishing identities, or whether a single brand serves both.
The Complete Guide to Naming Your Game Studio
Approaches to Studio Naming
Successful studio names follow a handful of distinct strategies. Understanding which approach suits your studio helps focus your search.
- Creative philosophy names: communicate how you make games, not what you make â Supergiant, Playdead, Devolver, Remedy
- Nature/elemental names: ground the brand in something tangible and visually evocative â Rare, Mojang, Naughty Dog, Bungie
- Invented names: fully original, fully ownable â Valve, Insomniac, Atari, Ubisoft
- Team personality names: reflect the people or culture of the studio â Double Fine, Slightly Mad Studios, People Can Fly
- Location references: tie the studio to a place or community â Rocksteady, Guerrilla Games, Media Molecule
Naming for Longevity
A studio name has to outlast trends, genre preferences, and individual games. Naming for longevity means avoiding the traps that date studio names.
- Avoid decade-specific gaming terminology â 'Pixel' something was fresh in 2010, ubiquitous by 2015, exhausted by 2020
- Avoid ironic names unless the irony is deeply embedded in your identity â irony ages badly and what was clever in year one can feel hollow in year ten
- Choose words whose meaning is stable over time â avoid slang, avoid very current cultural references, avoid names that depend on a specific technological context
- Test the name against studios that have been operating for 20+ years â does it feel like it could belong in that list?
Legal and Commercial Groundwork
Before you announce your studio name, complete the legal and commercial preparations.
- Search the USPTO trademark database and the EUIPO database for existing marks in Class 41 (entertainment) and Class 9 (software)
- Search existing game studio directories and databases â MobyGames, IGDB, and LinkedIn all index studio names
- Register your domain, social handles (Twitter/X, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube), and any platform-specific profiles (itch.io, Steam developer page) simultaneously
- Consider forming a legal entity under the studio name early, even before your first release â it protects the name and clarifies business relationships
Building a Visual Identity from Your Studio Name
A great studio name enables a great visual identity. The name and the logo should work together from the start.
- Commission a simple logomark even before your first game â a studio that takes its own brand seriously signals professionalism to partners and press
- Choose a primary typeface for your studio name early and use it consistently across all materials
- Consider how your studio name looks at small sizes (favicon, social media profile picture) â complex names or words that look similar at small sizes create legibility problems
- Your studio name on a title screen credit should feel like a moment â 'A [Studio Name] Game' is prime real estate for brand building, and a well-designed credit sequence can become a signature
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