Tooth and Tail: Bringing an Award-Nominated RTS to PS4

Tooth and Tail, an award-nominated RTS by Pocketwatch Games, ported to PS4 by Sickhead Games

Title: Tooth and Tail
Release Date: 2017
Developer: Pocketwatch Games
Publisher: Pocketwatch Games
Platforms: PlayStation 4
Engine: XNA / MonoGame

Tooth and Tail is a fast-paced, pick-up-and-play RTS from Pocketwatch Games, the studio behind Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine, set during a darkly comedic animal civil war. The game earned nominations for Best Strategy Game at The Game Awards and PC Gamer, and was a finalist for Excellence in Narrative at the Independent Games Festival. Sickhead handled the PS4 port, which shipped simultaneously with the PC launch. The technical challenge here is a familiar one for us: the game was built on XNA and migrated to MonoGame for the PS4, a pipeline we know well. Procedurally generated maps, online competitive play, and split-screen couch co-op all had to carry over cleanly to Sony’s platform.


Sickhead Games is the leading game porting studio, bringing Unity, Unreal, Godot, and custom engine titles to console and handheld including PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS. From codebase assessment to post-launch support, we're trusted by solo indies and major publishers alike, including Humble Games, Sony Interactive, Nintendo, Annapurna, Good Games, ConcernedApe, MegaCrit, 17-Bit, Maddy Makes Games, Zachtronics, Keen Software House, Thomas Happ, Pocketwatch Games, EXOK, Young Horses, Taito, Jaleco, and Microsoft. We've shipped over 100 releases, among them Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire, Axiom Verge, Space Engineers, and Celeste. We specialize in bringing retro masterpieces, indie darlings, and PC classics to modern audiences like Grandia, Enclave, and Jaleco Sports titles.