Paperlight

Founded 2019 · Lisbon, Portugal

About the studio

Paperlight started as two people at a game jam in Lisbon with a kite prototype and a scanner full of torn coloured paper. The jam build turned into Pocket Kite Club, which sold well enough to pay two salaries for a year; a small regional arts grant covered the second year while we figured out what a multiplayer version of the same feeling would be. That became Skybreak Royale.

We are twenty-nine people now, and we intend to stay roughly that size. Growing past thirty would mean taking outside money, and outside money would mean shipping something every year. We would rather keep two games healthy and go home at six.

Studio facts

Founded
2019
Headquarters
Lisbon, Portugal
Headcount
29
Titles shipped
2 — Pocket Kite Club (2021), Skybreak Royale (2023)
Engine
Unity, both titles
Ownership
Independent, founder-owned

The people

A few of the folks who answer for things around here.

  • Ana Ferreira

    Studio Director & co-founder

    Ran production at a mid-size studio before the jam; now keeps the schedule honest and does most of the talking to Steam.

  • Joana Pires

    Art Director & co-founder

    Trained as a printmaker. Every colour in both games has been through her paper-and-scanner process at least once.

  • Devon Okafor

    Technical Director

    Owns the client, the dedicated servers and the regional backend. Joined in 2022 to get Skybreak Royale out of one region and into three.

  • Rui Marques

    Lead Designer

    Responsible for the glider, the twelve-minute match length, and the fact that you cannot sprint while carrying a kite.

  • Marta Silveira

    Live Ops Producer

    Plans the seasonal calendar and the charity events, and is the reason patches land on a Tuesday and never on a Friday.

  • Tomás Beja

    Player Support Lead

    Reads every report and appeal himself, in four languages, and tells the rest of us when a policy is not working.

  • Ines Cardoso

    Audio Lead

    Recorded the whole wind library on the Costa da Caparica with a borrowed rig. Also plays the accordion on the menu theme.