Playsaurus
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (May 2025) |
| Founded | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | , USA |
| Website | playsaurus |
Playsaurus is an American developer-publisher based in Los Angeles that is known for idle and incremental games.[1][2] Founded in 2011, it debuted with the Browser-RPG Cloudstone, broke out globally with Clicker Heroes,[3][4] and now operates a hybrid model, developing its own games such as Poker Quest[5] and MrMine[6] while publishing external projects including the Steam editions of Cookie Clicker and Sixty-Four.[7][8]
History
[edit]Playsaurus’ first release, Cloudstone (open beta 2011, full launch 2012), mixed action-RPG mechanics with social-network distribution and laid the groundwork for the studio’s fantasy art assets, later reused in Clicker Heroes.[9] Clicker Heroes (2014 browser, 2015 Steam) popularised the idle-clicker genre and became one of Steam’s most-played F2P titles.[10] In 2017 the firm publicly rejected micro-transactions for its paid sequel, citing ethical concerns about “whales” and addiction.[10][11]
The studio faced a high-profile patent-infringement suit in 2018 over virtual currency but vowed to fight, calling the claimant a “patent troll”.[12] A year later Apple temporarily removed the mobile version of Clicker Heroes after a third-party trademark filing, spotlighting store-front vulnerabilities for indies.[13]
Publishing & notable projects
[edit]In September 2021, Playsaurus launched PC version of Cookie Clicker, listed as the game’s Steam publisher.[14] In 2024 the company released solo-developer Oleg Danilov’s Sixty-Four, a minimalist factory sim praised by Ars Technica for its “dark extractive journey” and previewed by Bleeding Cool ahead of launch.[7][8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Clicker Heroes studio abandons upcoming sequel's free-to-play model for "ethical reasons"". Eurogamer.net. 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Clicker Heroes developer's new approach to monetization is nothing like EA's". Android Authority. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Clicker Heroes devs say they're". PCGamesN. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Clicker Heroes 2". IGN. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ Capron, Julien (2021-07-20). "Poker Quest disponible en accès anticipé sur Steam". Actua (in French). Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "The longest video games ever: From least to most hours". TyN Magazine. 2024-04-21. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ a b Purdy, Kevin (2024-03-10). "Sixty Four is a beautiful system design toy that reveals something rather dark". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ a b "Minimalist Sim Strat Game Sixty Four Announces March Release Date". bleedingcool.com. 2024-02-02. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ Johnson, Leif (2012-07-30). "Cloudstone Review". Gamezebo. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ a b "Clicker Game Ditches Microtransactions, Becomes Steam Best Seller". Kotaku. 2018-07-19. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Clicker Heroes 2 ditches free-to-play model because dev doesn't want to "make money off players in denial of their addiction"". VG247. 2017-11-21. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Playsaurus targeted by "patent trolls" over Clicker Heroes virtual currency". GamesIndustry.biz. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Clicker Heroes 2 drops free to play model over developer's ethical concerns". PC Gamer. 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
- ^ "Publisher · Playsaurus". SteamDB. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
