Mercenary Kings: Reloaded, A Four-Platform Launch

Title: Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition
Release Date: 2018
Developer: Tribute Games
Publisher: Tribute Games
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One
Engine: Custom XNA / MonoGame

Mercenary Kings is a Metal Slug-style run-and-gun, a side-scrolling looter-shooter with over 100 missions, four-player co-op, and a deep weapon crafting system built from the ground up in C# on a custom XNA-based engine. The Reloaded Edition wasn’t just a port, it was a full content update, adding new characters, weapons, and missions, while simultaneously launching on three new platforms. Sickhead handled the Switch, Vita, and Xbox One ports, all shipping on the same day. There’s a practical reason Tribute came to us for this one: Sickhead co-owner Tom Spilman is a lead on the MonoGame project — the open-source XNA framework the game runs on. Knowing the framework at that level of depth cuts down on guesswork when platform-specific issues come up, and there’s no shortage of those when you’re hitting three certification pipelines at once.

Sickhead Games is the leading game porting studio, skilled in porting Unity, Unreal, Godot, and custom engine titles to every major console and handheld including Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. We’re trusted by solo indie developers and major publishers alike to handle everything from codebase assessment to post-launch support, bringing great games to the audiences they deserve. Satisfied clients and partners include 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 ported over 100 releases including Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire, TowerFall, Axiom Verge, and Space Engineers, and also specialize in bringing retro console and PC games to modern audiences like Grandia, Enclave, and Jaleco Sports titles.