Curve Games has signed Sweden-based Wayfinder Studios to publish Wyldheart, an online co-op RPG that has accumulated more than 375,000 wishlists on Steam and raised €248,000 on Kickstarter ahead of any release date.

Curve described the partnership as the next phase of its publishing roadmap following its acquisition by Nazara Technologies in May 2024 for £21.7 million.

What is Curve bringing to the deal?

Stuart Dinsey, CEO of Curve Games, positioned the signing as a deliberate investment in a specific kind of indie team rather than a content-for-hire arrangement.

Curve is "looking to make ambitious investments in distinctive games and talented independent studios, and Wyldheart is a great example of where we want Curve to go next," Dinsey said.

Who is Wayfinder Studios?

Wayfinder Studios was founded in 2020 in Sweden by a team of EA DICE veterans:

• Dennis Brännvall, former creative director at DICE
• Fia Tjernberg, former studio director at DICE
• Manne Ederyd, DICE alumnus
• Adam Clark, DICE alumnus

Brännvall serves as CEO of Wayfinder. The team is building Wyldheart as an online co-op RPG anchored to persistent worlds running on private servers, a deliberate counter to the large-shard design of mainstream MMOs.

What did Wayfinder say about the partnership?

"We've been incredibly fortunate with the response to Wyldheart so far, and finding the right partner to help us build on that momentum was really important to us," Brännvall said.

"What stood out about Curve was how quickly they understood what we're trying to make, who we're making it for, and the kind of studio we want Wayfinder to be. We're excited to have them alongside us as we take Wyldheart into its next chapter."

The combination of a 375,000-wishlist Steam page and a €248,000 Kickstarter campaign gives Curve a measurable baseline audience before any additional marketing spend.

What design bet is the studio making?

In a previous interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Tjernberg laid out the studio's thesis: small persistent worlds run by communities on private servers, applied to a co-op RPG space she believes has stagnated.

"Pretty much all of us have worked at AAA, where the fanbase doesn't really want innovation," Tjernberg said. "They want familiar, they want what they are used to from other games."

She framed the server architecture as the key differentiator. "We are interested in persistent worlds and MMOs, but with private servers, where it's just you and your community enjoying this. It's not a massive thing with 10,000 people on a shard; it's your own personal Minecraft or Valheim server, game-structure wise."

The Valheim and Minecraft references frame Wyldheart's design intent: a small, community-hosted persistent world, with gameplay choices scaled to a private shard rather than a 10,000-player server.

What is worth watching next?

Curve has not disclosed release timing, additional platform targets, or the financial structure of the publishing agreement. The publisher's next round of signings under Nazara ownership, and whether it leans further into DICE-veteran-led teams, will indicate whether Wyldheart is a one-off bet or the template for a wider indie push.