TowerFall Dark World: A Long-Running Port Relationship Across Four Platforms

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Title: TowerFall Dark World
Release Date: 2018
Developer: Maddy Makes Games
Publisher: Maddy Makes Games
Platforms: PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
Engine: Microsoft XNA

TowerFall started life as an Ouya exclusive in 2013: a fast, precise local multiplayer archery brawler built by Maddy Thorson largely solo. Sickhead helped bring it to XNA for the expanded TowerFall Ascension release on PS4 and PC in 2014, beginning a port relationship that would span nearly half a decade. Sickhead handled the PS4 and PS Vita ports, and was later brought back for the Xbox One release… a clear signal that Thorson trusted the team to keep getting it right. The Nintendo Switch version, released in 2018, was billed as the ultimate edition, bundling all of Ascension and the Dark World expansion together. The Switch release also added Switch-exclusive features, meaning Sickhead wasn’t just moving code between platforms, they were helping deliver new content. TowerFall is a game where the feel of every input matters enormously: four players competing in tight arenas, catching arrows mid-air, landing stomps frame-by-frame. Maintaining that responsiveness across hardware as different as the Vita’s handheld form factor, Xbox One’s controller ecosystem, and the Switch’s hybrid Joy-Con setup, across multiple releases spanning years, is a sustained technical achievement, not a one-time undertaking.

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.