Hidden Horses brings together people who previously worked at id Software across engine and tools programming, design, lighting, effects and production. Its debut game, Danger Pay, puts players inside a deadly television show run by a sinister but charming AI host.
The studio is preparing a Kickstarter campaign to fund the project. Most of the team only recently left their previous jobs, and the developers want to introduce themselves to the community early in production. They plan to share a teaser, a documentary about the team and Q&A sessions in the coming months.
Danger Pay is built around single-player shooting
The developers cite the 1987 film The Running Man and the arcade game Smash TV as influences. Both turn violence into public entertainment, a premise that carries over into the AI-hosted show in Danger Pay. Hidden Horses says it is focusing on classic FPS play, powerful weapons and strange enemies. Optimization is also a development goal.
The team includes specialists who have worked on different parts of a shooter. Co-founder Todd Boyce was a lead VFX artist at id Software, while Dustin Land worked on the idTech engine. Daniel Young was a lead AI engineer, and Andrew Willis worked as a producer. Together, their backgrounds cover enemy behavior, development tools and the visual work needed to bring a game to the screen.
The developers share ownership
Hidden Horses says the studio is owned solely by its developers, with equity split equally. It operates as a cooperative, using democratic mechanisms to choose project direction, leadership and other major business decisions. The people making the game therefore also take part in deciding where the studio goes.
Kickstarter is the team’s chosen route to funding its first project. So far, the public details of Danger Pay focus on its setting, genre and design goals. Players interested in the project can follow the campaign for the start of crowdfunding and a closer look at the game the team is building.
Sources · Danger Pay project overview · Hidden Horses team · Ownership and crowdfunding
