Mercenary Kings: Reloaded, Run-And-Gun On the Go

Mercenary Kings: Reloaded, a run-and-gun by Tribute Games, ported to Xbox One and PS Vita by Sickhead Games

Title: Mercenary Kings: Reloaded Edition
Original Release: 2018
Developer: Tribute Games
Publisher: Tribute Games
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One
Engine: 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 vastly different consoles at once.


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.