Loading...
Mudtek - Version 1 vs Version 2
Sep 12, 2026, 02:25 PM
Created the Mudtek studio page covering the team, named staff, the unresolved Vancris title discrepancy, design philosophy, technology and the Gamescom Asia award
Sep 12, 2026, 02:26 PM
Updated internal link states after new pages were added (2026-09-12)
11Mudtek is the studio behind Dimraeth. It is the developer and also the publisher: the game is self-published, a point the team made directly in September 2026 when they wrote "This being our first game and self-published we’ve learned a lot".2233The team is small and distributed. Mudtek describes itself as a fully remote team of 10 developers spread across the globe. Dimraeth is their first title, and as of 2026-09-12 no other Mudtek project has been announced.4455Named Staff6677Three people have been named on first-party surfaces. Several more roles are referred to without names.8899NameRole as statedWhere the title comes fromJosephFounder, Technology DirectorSigned the October 2025 post announcing Steam Deck support; the title comes from the studio’s own team listingPhillipGame DirectorIntroduces himself by that title in every design post he writes, from June 2025 onwardVancris BalanonArt Director of Dimraeth, or Creative DirectorTwo different first-party sources, see below1010Phillip is the public voice of the design side. He introduced himself in June 2025 with "This is likely the first time you’ve heard from me directly. As we move toward release, I’ll be posting regular updates", and has written the monthly design deep-dives and the playtest briefings since.11111212The Vancris Title Discrepancy13131414Vancris Balanon’s title is genuinely unresolved, and this page states both versions rather than picking one. In the art-direction post of 21 August 2025, he introduces himself as Art Director of Dimraeth. The studio’s own team listing gives him as Creative Director. Both are first-party, neither corrects the other, and no later post settles it. As of 2026-09-12 there is no evidence either way beyond those two surfaces, and it is possible the role simply changed or that both titles apply.15151616Unnamed Roles17171818The same August 2025 post refers to work being refined alongside the studio’s narrative director. That narrative director has never been named. Earlier posts also refer to an audio engineering team, an art team and a design function as distinct groups, and to a game designer brought in during 2024 specifically to restructure the monster AI. None of those people has been named.19192020Two flat negatives, both verified 2026-09-12: no composer, writer or voice cast has been credited on any first-party surface, and no full staff list beyond the three names above has been published.21212222How the Team Grew23232424The release posts track a studio expanding from something very small. The June and August 2023 posts are written in the first person singular, with lines like a fix that "broke at some point and I didn’t notice", which reads as one programmer writing up their own month. By December 2023 the framing has changed: "We’ve welcomed new, talented individuals to our team, significantly broadening our horizons and enhancing our capabilities." The same post says that expansion let the studio extend the scope of the game.25252626DateWhat the studio said about itselfJune 2023Posts written in the first person singular; a very small teamDecember 2023New team members welcomed; scope of the game extended as a resultMarch 2024An audio engineering team named as a distinct group, during the move to new audio middlewareMay 2024A game designer brought in to restructure the monster AIJune 2024The team grew again, with members assigned to improve the quality of existing systemsJuly 2024An art team and a design function named as separate groupsSeptember 2026Described as a fully remote team of 10 developers2727The studio has also been candid about cost and about schedule. A 2023 post justifies making monsters four-directional as "more time/money, but its a quality add I hope player’s will appreciate", and in June 2024 the team wrote: "This month we grew the team a little bit more and we’ve designated certain team members to improve the quality of some of our existing systems. The last 6 months we have lost a little agility in the original development timeline, but it will all pay dividends later this year when we’re able to deliver a much more comprehensive game!" See Development History for how that played out.28282929Design Philosophy30303131Mudtek publishes a set of stated values, and they are worth reading against the game they made, which is a co-op RPG with no live-service hooks and a hand-built world.32323333ValueAs statedConnection over gimmicksDesign for what players do together rather than for novelty featuresSubstance over spectacleDepth ahead of surface impactPlay with purposeSystems should be there for a reasonRespect the playerTreat the player’s time and intelligence as worth somethingHonest funNo manipulation in what the game asks of playersBuild to lastMake something durable rather than disposable3434The design posts carry the same line. The stated aim for the world is to build something that "invites you in with clarity and color, while holding true depth for those who choose to seek it", and the stated aim for multiplayer is "to deliver a great positive social experience for the player base - something we ourselves want to be able to play with our friends".35353636Awards37373838Dimraeth won Most Anticipated Game at the Pitch Competition of Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show 2025, announced by the studio on 21 October 2025. The studio credited Gamescom Asia, Thailand Game Show and Agora Gaming Partners. As of 2026-09-12 this is the only award the game has been announced as winning.39394040Technology41414242Dimraeth is built in Unity. The release posts reference Unity’s animator, navigation-mesh surfaces, shader graph and the DOTS stack, and a 2024 fix line mentions moving to a newer Unity version. Audio moved off Unity’s built-in audio system to FMOD in March 2024, which the team described as producing sound that was "clearer, more engaging, and truly fitting for the immersive worlds we’re building".43434444Networking runs on the storefront’s own networking layer, integrated in June 2023, which removed the need for port forwarding. Multiplayer is peer to peer with one player hosting. See Co-op and Multiplayer.45454646Performance work has been a recurring theme: a reported 200 percent frame rate gain from optimisation in August 2023, and a further four to five times client-side improvement in July 2024. Both are the studio’s own figures from their own profiling.47474848Communication Style49495050Mudtek has posted a development update most months since May 2023, with only two gaps in the run between May 2023 and mid-2025. From 2023 to early 2025 those were release posts: a version string, a list of major changes, a list of minor changes and a list of fixes. From June 2025 the studio added signed design deep-dives written by the game director, covering one system or place at a time. Both formats have continued in parallel.