Studios Whose Debut is (Arguably) Their Best Game

In the same vein of "Best Debut Albums," here is a list of games that were the developer studios' debuts and could be argued as their best game. Ideally, we'd want the studios to have made more than one game.

This list will be very subjective (and are not necessarily opinions I personally stand by), so suggestions welcome!

Gunstar Heroes
Gunstar Heroes
Treasure
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime
Retro
Psychonauts
Psychonauts
Double Fine
Half-Life
Half-Life
Valve
Bastion
Bastion
Supergiant
LittleBigPlanet
LittleBigPlanet
Media Molecule
Star Control
Star Control
Toys for Bob
Jet Grind Radio
Jet Grind Radio
Smilebit

(Technically their first entry is Sega Rally 2, but Smilebit only helped to port it to the Dreamcast)
Pong
Pong
Atari
Zork
Zork
Infocom
Defender
Defender
Vid Kidz
Marble Madness
Marble Madness
Atari Games
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic Team
Rocket: Robot on Wheels
Rocket: Robot on Wheels
Sucker Punch Studios
Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe
Clover

(Technically developed by Team Viewtiful, who would go on to become Clover)
Blood
Blood
Monolith Productions
Nights Into Dreams...
Nights Into Dreams...
Sonic Team (as an official dev group)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords
Obsidian Entertainment
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
Oddworld Inhabitants
The Silver Case
The Silver Case
Grasshopper Manufacture
Kingdom Rush
Kingdom Rush
Ironhide Game Studios
System Shock
System Shock
Looking Glass Studios
System Shock 2
System Shock 2
Irrational Games
Arx Fatalis
Arx Fatalis
Arkane Studios
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Troika Games
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind
Wolfenstein: The New Order
Wolfenstein: The New Order
MachineGames
E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy
E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy
Streum On Studio
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Eidos Montreal
Silent Hill
Silent Hill
Team Silent
Remember Me
Remember Me
DON'T NOD
Gothic
Gothic
Piranha Bytes
Moon: Remix RPG Adventure
Moon: Remix RPG Adventure
Love-de-Lic
Minecraft
Minecraft
Mojang Studios

28 Comments


1 year ago

Rocket Robot on Wheels (Sucker Punch)
Sonic 1 (Sonic Team debut)
Shovel Knight (Yacht Club)
Halo: Combat Evolved (Bungie)
Spyro The Dragon (Insomiac)
Ty 1 (Chrome Studios)

1 year ago

I'd suggest Rocket: Robot on Wheels by Sucker Punch

1 year ago

Insomniac's first game was Disruptor) and not Spyro.
I don't think I've heard of anyone arguing that Rocket: Robot on Wheels is Sucker Punch's best game, at least not over Sly 2 or Ghost of Tsushima. I could be convinced though.
Bungie's first commercial game is [Operation: Desert Storm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation:Desert_Storm(video_game)), not Halo.
Good call on Sonic Team, can't believe I forgot that.
Sort of reluctant to include Yacht Club here since their main release is Shovel Knight, and the rest of their games so far have been spinoff games of Shovel Knight.
According to Wikipedia, Krome's first game was Mike Stewart's Pro Bodyboarding, so Ty the Tasmanian Tiger wouldn't count here.

Thanks for thinking up the suggestions!

1 year ago

In Rocket's defense I'd say 3d platformers were played out on ps2, but on n64 they were fresh and Rocket was top of the pile

1 year ago

Also would games that new teams made with existing IPs count such as evening star for sonic mania

1 year ago

To answer Speedy's question, yes, I think that would count, as long as the new teams had also made more than one game (otherwise we would have a lot of one game studios on the list).

1 year ago

Would Viewtiful Joe by Clover Studio count?

1 year ago

I was considering Viewtiful Joe for the list though there's some tough competition (God Hand & Okami). But it's a subjective list so, why not!

1 year ago

I believe Ubisoft Montpelier had their start with Rayman 1 though Rayman 1s quality can be disputed, Bandai Namco got their start with Pac Man and Junction Point with Epic Mickey

That's all i got now

1 year ago

Namco's first game appears to be Gee Bee) instead of Pac-Man.
I'm not sure if anyone else would argue that Rayman is Ubisoft Montepelier's best game over say, Rayman 2 or Beyond Good and Evil, but I'd be open to discussion.
Sort of reluctant to put on Junction Point since they've only made two games, and they're both Epic Mickey (sort of the same reason I didn't want to put on Dennaton since they've only made Hotline Miami 1 & 2). Thanks again for the suggestions regardless!

1 year ago

Treasure didnt make Alien soldier, both S&P, ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun to get disrespected like this

1 year ago

Blood by Monolith Productions.
The game that debuted the studio with former Apogee workers if I remember correctly.

1 year ago

This comment was deleted

1 year ago

@PostWar I did say arguably to be fair, so I'm more than happy to acknowledge that there is in fact plenty of reason to believe that Gunstar Heroes is not Treasure's best game. But I'm glad the discourse has been created!
@TheMatee Added Blood, thanks!

1 year ago

According to Yuji Naka, although Sonic 1 was the first time most of the team had formed to make a game, Sonic Team as a brand didn't form until NiGHTS into Dreams, which is also arguably their best game.

1 year ago

Xenogears for Monolithsoft

1 year ago

Could you make a list of the best game of each studio?

1 year ago

I'm not sure I have the expertise for that list right now admittingly, but perhaps someday!

4 months ago

Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic 2 from Obsidian Entertainment, the best game from the Black Isle/Obsidian lineage and dare I say the only good Star Wars game.

1 month ago

Actually had a few more suggestions for this list:
Oddworld Abe's Odysee (Oddworld Inhabitants)
The Silver Case (Grasshopper Manufacture)
Kingdom Rush (Ironhide Game Studios)
System Shock 1 (Looking Glass Studios) and System Shock 2 (Irrational Games)
Arx Fatalis (Arkane Studios)
Fallout 2 (Black Isle Studios, when Fallout 1 released there was still no studio named Black Isle yet)
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura (Troika Games)
The Elder Scrolls III Morrowind (Bethesda Games Studios)
Wolfenstein The New Order (MachineGames)
EYE Divine Cybermancy (Streum On Studio)
Deus Ex Human Revolution (Eidos Montreal)
Silent Hill 1 (Team Silent)

Just to name a few.

1 month ago

@Rogueliker Thanks for all the suggestions!

1 month ago

xenogears wasn't monolith, it was still developed in-house at square by the same product development team that would eventually work on chrono cross as well. monolith wasn't formed until late in 1999, with their debut title being xenosaga episode I a few years later

1 month ago

@theia You're right, looked more into it and deleted the entry. Thanks!

1 month ago

My recommendation is for Remember Me from Don't Nod. I know Life is Strange is more popular, but I prefer Remember Me to all their games afterwards. Though I haven't played Banishers yet.

I am curious why Morrowind is on the list. Didn't Bethesda make Elder Scrolls 1 & 2 prior to 3?

1 month ago

Thought I would pitch in:
Ico (Team Ico)
Gothic (Piranha Bytes)
Moon (Love-de-Lic)
Minecraft (Mojang Studios)

1 month ago

Good list, respect for Silent Hill 1. And thanks for a couple adds to this spiritually related list of mine

1 month ago

@LucasTheYeti @Consciovs Thanks for the suggestions, wanted to address a couple. Morrowind is on the list because it's Bethesda Game Studios (established in 2001) as opposed to Bethesda Softworks (established in 1986). Softworks developed Arena and Daggerfall, and Morrowind was the first project undertaken by Game Studios. Also, I left Ico off for now since while Ueda has directed three games, two of them were under Team ICO and the third, Last Guardian, is credited to his new studio GenDesign rather than Team ICO. A bit of a technicality, but Team ICO is only officially credited with Ico and Shadow of the Colossus so I think it's best not included for now.

@DJSCheddar Glad I could be of service. You can thank Rogueliker for the inclusion of original Silent Hill, though in fairness I find myself appreciating the original a ton more recently and it might end up becoming my favorite of the series with enough time.

1 month ago

had no idea how many fucking bangers there are, imo metroid prime is the most impressive. great list


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