Zugalu Entertainment’s medieval city-builder Thrive: Heavy Lies the Crown posed a formidable performance challenge: animating hundreds—or even thousands—of distinct characters simultaneously on modest hardware. Targeting 60 fps on a GTX 750 Ti and a quad-core CPU, the team discovered that traditional vertex-baked animations were consuming up to 20 GB of RAM and causing crashes. Lead concept artist Jackie Li and CTO Garrett Hau therefore engineered a custom animation-baking pipeline that offloaded compute to the GPU while dramatically reducing memory usage.

By migrating from vertex baking to bone baking—storing only per-frame bone transforms in compact texture maps that could be shared across characters with identical rigs—the team slashed RAM requirements from 20 GB to just 500 MB. Leveraging Unity’s SkinnedMeshRenderer APIs, Shader Graph for matrix math, and GPU instancing, they cut character draw calls from around 1,000 to just 20 and shrank animation compute time from 3.5 ms on a GTX 750 Ti to under 0.35 ms on a 2080 Ti. To dive deeper into their workflow and performance metrics, read the full case study on Unity’s website.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada – March 12, 2025 – Zugalu Entertainment, an independent video game studio based in Calgary, is thrilled to announce the acquisition of Edmonton-based Crimson Herring Studios. Zugalu, known for their innovative and immersive gaming experiences, is excited to bring this narrative-driven studio into its fold.

This strategic acquisition unites two of Alberta’s leading indie game developers, combining their creative talents and resources to enhance the development of compelling, story-rich games. Crimson Herring Studios, founded in April 2020 by producer Isaac Otway, has garnered attention for its debut title, Sovereign Syndicate, a Victorian steampunk role-playing game released in January 2024. The game has been praised for its intricate storytelling and unique gameplay mechanics.

Zugalu Entertainment, established in 2014 by game designer and entrepreneur Branden Sloane, has a diverse portfolio that includes titles such as Thrive: Heavy Lies the Crown, a medieval fantasy city-builder with real-time combat and impactful decision-making, which launched into Early Access on November 7, 2024. The studio is dedicated to creating games that offer deep, immersive experiences for players.

“We are excited to welcome the talented team from Crimson Herring Studios into the Zugalu family,” said Branden Sloane, Founder and CEO of Zugalu Entertainment. “Their expertise in crafting narrative-driven games aligns perfectly with our vision of delivering rich, engaging experiences to players. This acquisition allows us to accelerate our growth and expand our creative horizons.”

As part of this acquisition, Isaac Otway will be joining Zugalu Entertainment as Chief Operating Officer (COO). With his deep experience in narrative game development and production, Isaac will play a key role in ensuring Zugalu continues to grow and create even better games for players worldwide.

“Joining Zugalu Entertainment in this new role as COO is an exciting opportunity, our team can achieve so much more together.” said Isaac Otway. “I have a great deal of respect for Branden and his team, and the business they’ve built, and I look forward to helping shape the company’s future and working alongside this talented team to deliver unforgettable gaming experiences.”

The combined entity will operate under the Zugalu Entertainment brand, with plans to integrate Crimson Herring’s narrative-driven approach into Zugalu’s upcoming projects. This merger aims to enhance the quality and depth of future titles, providing players with immersive storytelling and refined gameplay experiences.

As part of this acquisition, Zugalu Entertainment will continue to support and update Sovereign Syndicate, with a planned Director’s Cut slated for Early 2026. The studio also plans to leverage Crimson Herring’s narrative expertise in the development of Thrive: Heavy Lies the Crown and other future projects.

For more information about Zugalu Entertainment and its games, please visit https://zugalu.com/.

---

About Zugalu Entertainment

Founded in 2014 by game designer and entrepreneur Branden Sloane, Zugalu Entertainment is an independent game development studio based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The studio is dedicated to creating innovative and immersive games that players of all kinds can enjoy. Their portfolio includes titles such as Thrive: Heavy Lies the Crown, Voxel Scavenger, Technolites, and Boulder Run.

About Crimson Herring Studios

Crimson Herring Studios is an indie game development studio headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in April 2020 by producer Isaac Otway, the studio focuses on narrative-driven games with a twist of mystery and intrigue. Their debut title, Sovereign Syndicate, is a Victorian steampunk role-playing game that emphasizes profound storytelling through immersive gameplay.

---

Media Contact:

Branden Sloane
CEO, Zugalu Entertainment
branden@zugalu.com

Isaac Otway
COO, Zugalu Entertainment
isaac@zugalu.com

A Victorian steampunk RPG with tarot cards instead of dice – Sovereign Syndicate is now available on GOG, with a -10% launch discount until January 22nd, 2 PM UTC!

Choose from three playable characters with branching stories that intertwine. Investigate, interact, and take action to leave your mark on the world and its inhabitants. No random stat points here, use your skills to level them up, and trust your fate to our tarot card chance system.

So, how will you solve your problems? Combat, persuasion, magic, explosives? The choice is yours and all your cards are on the table; but be careful, the docklands aren’t for the faint of heart.

Check out what Sovereign Syndicate is all about!