Mega Cat Studios is an American video game developer and publisher located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 2015 by James Deighan, Nick Mann, and Zack Manko.
Mega Cat develops and publishes games for computers, consoles, virtual reality, and physical copy games for video game consoles, such as the Sega Genesis and the Nintendo Entertainment System. The company also publishes physical releases for other retro developers, such as Old Towers by Retrosouls. As of 2024, they are also the primary developers of the Backyard Sports franchise after it was rebooted the same year by its current rightsholder Playground Productions, beginning with a series of remasters of several games originally developed by series creator Humongous Entertainment followed by original titles beginning with Backyard Baseball (2026).
History Mega Cat was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by James Deighan, Nick Mann and Zack Manko in 2015; they, alongside Nathaniel Wilson, Andrew Marsh, and Lauri Coderbrah produced the studio's first game, Almost Hero, for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which generally received a positive reception. A major element of their business model of publishing new video games for "retro systems" has involved including a physical manual and case for each of their releases. Founder James Deighan says that the studio has sought to "recreate that experience of being in the back of your mom’s van coming back from Hills [a department store], opening up the game and reading the instruction manual on the way home."
In February 2017, Mega Cat published Coffee Crisis for the Sega Genesis. The game was their first to later receive a Windows port with enhanced features, such as additional modes, a procedurally generated roguelite modifier system, and improved graphics, and was later released on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. The Windows version of Coffee Crisis was published in conjunction with Zerouno Games.
To avoid having to bring in investors or otherwise raise funding early on in the studio's history, Mega Cat focused on a balancing contracted work for various brands while continuing work on their own IP. The studio has done contract work for such clients as the Pittsburgh Pirates, Devolver Digital, and Columbia Records.
The studio has run crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter for Coffee Crisis, Log Jammers and Phantom Gear. Prior to its crowdfunding campaign, Log Jammers had been an official selection of the 2018 Indie Megabooth and won both the "Best Digital Game Play" and the "Digital Game of the Year" award at Gameacon 2017.
A number of the studio's games were featured as part of the Indie Megabooth, including the aforementioned Log Jammers as well as Little Medusa, Coffee Crisis, and Fork Parker's Crunch Out.
In 2020, ten of the studio's published games were included in a cartridge for the Evercade gaming system.
In 2024, it was announced that Mega Cat Studios is collaborating with Playground Productions in rebooting the Backyard Sports franchise, which was originally created by Humongous Entertainment. Mega Cat remastered several early Backyard Sports titles, and developed a new Backyard Baseball game released in 2026 simply titled Backyard Baseball.
In 2026, the studio was announced as the main developer of a side-scroller spin-off and a prequel in Sony Interactive Entertainment's God of War franchise, titled Sons of Sparta. The game was released on the PlayStation 5 the very day it was announced during the February PlayStation State of Play.
Games Year Title Platform(s) Developer(s) 2016 Almost Hero Nintendo Entertainment System Mega Cat Studios Dushlan Peter McQuillan 2017 City Trouble Den Kat Games Coffee Crisis Sega Genesis, Windows Mega Cat Studios Log Jammers Nintendo Entertainment System, Windows Justice Duel Nintendo Entertainment System Mega Marble World Sega Genesis 2018 Little Medusa Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis Creepy Brawlers Nintendo Entertainment System Creeping it Real Sitten Kitten Expedition Fork Parker's Crunch Out Super Nintendo Entertainment System Mega Cat Studios, Devolver Digital 2019 Tänzer Sega Genesis Mikael Tillander Lucky Penguin Nintendo Entertainment System Lukasz Kur and Marcelo Barbosa Old Towers Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis Mega Cat Studios, Retrosouls Multidude Nintendo Entertainment System Retrosouls Super Painter Machine Cave Aeromangus Phantom Gear Sega Genesis Bits Rule Games Billionaire Banshee Nintendo Entertainment System Breaking Games 2020 Bite the Bullet Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch Mega Cat Studios Lethal Wedding Sega Genesis, Nintendo Switch Devwill Too MD Sega Genesis Manjana Team Arkagis Revolution Sik Misplaced Retrosouls Yazzie GLUF Another Reigny Day Windows Mega Cat Studios Alpha King The Meating Nintendo Entertainment System Romeow & Julicat Sega Genesis 2023 Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood WindowsWrestleQuestMega Cat Studios, Skybound Games2024Five Nights at Freddy's: Into the PitWindows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Mega Cat StudiosBackyard Baseball '97Windows, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5Mega Cat Studios, Humongous EntertainmentBackyard Soccer '98Windows, iOS, Android2025Backyard Baseball '01Backyard Football '99Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bitNintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, WindowsMega Cat StudiosBackyard Basketball '01Windows, iOS, AndroidMega Cat Studios, Humongous EntertainmentBackyard Hockey '02Windows 2026God of War Sons of SpartaPlayStation 5Mega Cat Studios, Santa Monica StudioBackyard BaseballWindows, macOS, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/SMega Cat StudiosTBAFNaF World SequelUnknownMega Cat Studios
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