David Polfeldt, former head of Ubisoft Massive, has started his own game studio. Bespoke Pixel has already secured investment for its debut title.
David Polfeldt (left)
As reported by GamesBeat, Bespoke Pixel raised $25 million in funding from unnamed investors.
Based in Barcelona, the studio currently has just five employees, including Polfeldt. It plans to expand the team, with open positions including a lead gameplay programmer, CTO, senior tech artist, world director, systems designer, and 3D artist & animator.
Polfeldt noted that the company doesn’t plan to grow rapidly, only willing to hire people they like with extensive experience in the industry.
Bespoke Pixel is working on an unannounced open world game made with Unreal Engine. According to job openings, it will feature multiplayer elements “with high emphasis on emergent experiences.” The team is targeting PC and consoles as platforms.
“We aim to create original intellectual property focused on refined and well-crafted gameplay,” Polfeldt told GamesBeat. “We are forming a small and agile team, initially dedicated to prototype development. We will harness the extensive experience of the core team to deliver top-tier gaming experiences.”
Polfeldt left Massive Entertainment in 2022 after working there for 17 years. He served as the studio’s managing director, having worked on games like World in Conflict, Far Cry 3, The Division, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Just Dance Now, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and the upcoming Star Wars: Outlaws.
“I think my philosophy and my skills work well for a certain kind of group of a certain kind of size,” he said of his decision to leave Ubisoft. “I don’t think I’m the right manager for what the studio has become. I’m perfectly at peace with it.”
After that, Polfeldt worked as a senior advisor at PlayerUnknown Productions and The Walt Disney Company.