A Bold Shift in Gaming Vision: How One More Game Reinvented Itself with SWAPMEAT

Seattle-based game developer One More Game is finally unveiling its debut title after a six-year journey marked by bold decisions and creative reinvention. Co-founders Jamie Stormbreaker and Patrick Wyatt—industry veterans with impressive credentials from Blizzard, ArenaNet, Riot Games, and Undead Labs—have taken an unconventional path to bring their vision to life. After securing a substantial $22 million funding round in 2022 from prominent investors including Lightspeed and Andreessen Horowitz, the company made the dramatic decision to scrap Spellcraft, a hybrid real-time strategy fantasy game they had spent over three years developing. While Stormbreaker expresses pride in what Spellcraft had become, the team recognized a fundamental shift in player preferences away from competitive stranger-focused games toward experiences designed for friend groups coordinated through platforms like Discord. “We were pushing the boundaries of what the next hybrid real-time strategy could be,” Stormbreaker explained, “but ultimately we didn’t have confidence that the 1v1 PvP free-to-play business model fit our company values, so it was best for us to switch gears.”

The result of this brave pivot is SWAPMEAT, representing a complete reimagining of the studio’s creative direction. This goofy third-person squad-based cooperative shooter draws humor inspiration from 2000s Adult Swim shows like “Tim and Eric” and “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”—a stark departure from Spellcraft’s fantasy aesthetic. Beyond the surface-level changes in genre and graphical style, the team also shifted their fundamental business model from free-to-play to a traditional upfront purchase. “When you buy something from us, we want to respect your time and give you great value,” Stormbreaker emphasized. “We want to make something that’s going to be in your Steam library forever.” This philosophical shift reflects a deeper commitment to creating lasting value rather than chasing engagement metrics. At SWAPMEAT’s core is a unique gameplay mechanic the developers affectionately dubbed “meat mixing” during development—players scavenge body parts from defeated enemies and swap them onto their character to gain different abilities and skills, creating the distinctive and memorably named experience.

The game’s development has been shaped by what Stormbreaker calls “alpha-driven development,” a player-focused approach that prioritizes early and frequent feedback. This past summer marked a critical moment for the fully-remote, 13-person team when they showcased SWAPMEAT at Seattle’s PAX West gaming convention, where their booth attracted consistent crowds throughout the event. “PAX was absolutely excellent, an unbelievable show for us,” Stormbreaker enthused. This success came at the culmination of an intensive period of public testing that included appearances at PAX East in Boston and Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. The team’s agile approach allowed them to implement player feedback in near-real time, sometimes making adjustments to the game mid-show before immediately putting the updated version back in players’ hands. This rapid iteration cycle proved invaluable, with Stormbreaker noting, “You get the game in front of people as soon as you possibly can. They’re going to roast the game, and I love it. We want the feedback, and by showing up regularly and engaging with players, we constantly make the game better.”

The insights gained from watching thousands of players experience SWAPMEAT at various gaming conventions have proven invaluable as the team prepares to launch the game into Steam Early Access. This approach to development reflects the founders’ extensive industry experience—Wyatt spent nine years as a VP at Blizzard working on iconic franchises like Starcraft and Diablo before co-founding ArenaNet, the studio behind the popular Guild Wars series. Stormbreaker’s own career path includes significant contributions at ArenaNet, Riot Games, and Microsoft-acquired Undead Labs. This combined expertise has informed not just the game’s design but the studio’s entire philosophy around player engagement and value creation. Their decision to embrace an upfront purchase model rather than free-to-play mechanics speaks to a commitment to respecting players’ time and investment—a refreshing stance in an industry increasingly dominated by microtransactions and live service models.

For Stormbreaker and Wyatt, bringing SWAPMEAT to PAX West represented more than just a product milestone—it completed a remarkable personal circle. Nearly two decades earlier, the pair first met on that very show floor, connecting over server technology at the ArenaNet booth. “I walked over to the ArenaNet booth to ask how they keep the servers online all the time,” Stormbreaker reminisced about his first encounter with Wyatt. That chance meeting sparked a professional relationship that would eventually lead to their partnership in founding One More Game. Returning to PAX not as curious developers but as studio founders showcasing their own creation marked a poignant moment in their shared journey. This full-circle experience underscores the organic, relationship-driven nature of their collaboration and the authentic passion that drives their creative process.

As One More Game prepares to launch SWAPMEAT into Steam Early Access, the studio stands as an intriguing example of how bold decision-making and player-centered development can transform a gaming company’s trajectory. Their willingness to completely abandon years of work on Spellcraft to pursue a vision more aligned with both player preferences and their own values demonstrates rare courage in an industry often constrained by sunk-cost thinking. The unique “meat mixing” mechanic at SWAPMEAT’s heart reflects their commitment to innovative gameplay, while their embrace of player feedback shows a genuine desire to create something that resonates with its audience. For Stormbreaker and Wyatt, the journey from their first meeting at PAX to returning as studio founders represents not just professional growth but the realization of a shared creative vision. As players prepare to experience SWAPMEAT for themselves, they’ll be engaging with a game shaped by decades of industry experience, a willingness to take bold risks, and an unwavering commitment to creating lasting value in players’ lives—proving that sometimes, the most interesting gaming experiences emerge when developers are willing to start over and reimagine what’s possible.