Graphite Lab is an indie studio based in St. Louis, Missouri. A developer that has traditionally worked on licensed projects, creating games for the likes of Hasbro, Disney, and Cartoon Network, their most recent and wholly original project is a sequel to their 2016 game Hive Jump, titled Hive Jump 2: Survivors. Where the original Hive Jump was a 2D cooperative platformer with roguelike elements, Hive Jump 2: Survivors, as the name implies, is more akin to Vampire Survivors, but with its own twist on the burgeoning subgenre you may have seen described as “bulletheaven”. Hive Jump 2: Survivors
is in early access on Steam at the time of this writing, but was announced to be hitting its 1.0 launch on September 10, 2024. Hard Drive’s own Thomas Wilde previewed it for his weekly Game Night column, and you can read his impressions here.
Minus World had the opportunity to talk with Founder & Studio Director Matt Raithel about Graphite Lab’s history, his own twenty year tenure in the industry, what it means to be a developer based in a part of the country that is not especially known for game development, the early access journey, signing on with the publisher Midwest Games headed by former Netflix Games executive Ben Kvalo, and being an instructor for the next generation of game devs at Maryville University in St. Louis.
The studio that would eventually become Graphite Lab began as the third expansion to Black Lantern Studios, a studio based in Springfield, Missouri, which formed in 2003 with Raithel joining as an artist. Black Lantern got their start as many fledgling studios did at the time, by working on licensed games for existing IPs. Originally attempting to make independent PC titles, trying to capitalize on the popularity of “tycoon” games by making a night club tycoon game, and pitching to some of the big publishers of the time, “Pitching it to the likes of Activision and THQ, and the usual suspects. They saw it and were like, ‘Oh, you guys have some skills for sure, but we don’t want this game. We have a different idea that we’d like you to make for us.’” Raithel said. This kickstarted their work for hire journey.
That first project would be a tycoon game for THQ, which led to gaining the attention of DSI games and going from a feeling Raithel said, of “Maybe we can do this,” to “We have a business, we know what we’re doing, and now we’ve got something that we can be known for, which is work for hire licensed video game development.” When asked if there was an underlying desire to pursue original ideas and IP, or just taking the work as it comes, Raithel says he was just happy making games for a living. Something he felt if asked before, he’d say there was maybe a ten percent chance of being a reality. They did want to work on their own ideas, but getting to work on bringing popular franchises to video games was cool in its own right.
Eventually Black Lantern would open a second studio in Austin, Texas, and Raithel would go on to graduate from artist to president of the Springfield studio for a year under the condition that he would get the opportunity to start a satellite office in St. Louis. Despite moving around a lot as a military kid, and living in Springfield, MO as an adult, a town which he still has a lot of ties to and loves, Raithel said that St. Louis has always been his home. Forming a studio in his hometown was a lingering itch he longed to scratch, motivated in part, he said, by his self proclaimed “I’ll show you” attitude. And so Black Lantern St. Louis was formed. Their first game was a contract they received from their home office, a Ben 10 game developed for the Wii and Xbox Live Arcade.
Of the companies under the Black Lantern umbrella, Black Lantern St. Louis was small and nimble enough that their original mission was to do things Black Lantern at large had never done before, “eShop download titles, a Facebook game, an iPhone game, and so on.”, Raithel said. A few years later Raithel would acquire the company from Black Lantern, they rebranded as Graphite Lab, and continued working on licensed projects for IP holders such as Nickelodeon, Hasbro, Konami, and Disney.
The original Hive Jump launched in early access, as did Hive Jump 2: Survivors. When asked what prompted the decision to switch from a 2D side scroller roguelike to top down bulletheaven style game, Raithel explains that the original game has an ambush mode where the game will hurl enemies at you until you die, but it was designed to be more of a temporary challenge and lacking in the roguelike trappings you would expect from a modern ambush style game like Vampire Survivors or 20 Minutes Till Dawn. It was a mode Raithel believed could stand on its own, and what he says was the inspiration for him personally to take Hive Jump 2 in this new direction. Raithel also credits Graphite Lab’s QA manager, David Greenfield, for having the foresight of putting the ambush mode together with this up and coming subgenre of games.
What began as, “Let’s work on it for a month and see how it goes.” quickly turned into over a year of work because Raithel said it just kept getting better and more fun. Of the early access experience for Hive Jump 2, and how it helps the team, Raithel said, “Once these games are out there and we’re delivering builds to players, we feed off that energy and it really helps keep us going. Keeps us motivated and holds us accountable to hitting those marks we know we’re capable of.” One of the things they were focusing on at the time of this interview, and to which Raithel gives credits to early access players requesting, was delivering end of level stats so players can get a better idea of how their run went. Something he said, “We never would have focused or prioritized if we didn’t have players like calling that stuff out.”
In addition to leading Graphite Lab, Raithel also teaches at Maryville University in St. Louis, and talked a bit about his role teaching a new generation of young people looking to break into a games industry that has been particularly unkind to the people who make games in recent times. He credits Maryville’s multidisciplinary approach to game design with giving his students ten to fifteen different skill sets that they can leverage when trying to build a career making games, and making sure that his students have options once they enter the industry. “You have art and animation, you’re learning 3D software, you’re learning web development, you’re learning scripting and programming, and you’re learning the Unity game engine, and you’re dabbling in Game Maker or Construct.” Raithel said of the program. Some of his students have gone on to work at places like Rockstar, others have made careers creating motion graphics while working in the esports industry, and more. All of which he credits to that multidisciplinary approach.
Hive Jump 2: Survivors is being published by Midwest Games, which was founded by Ben Kvalo who worked as the Lead Program Manager for Netflix Games. When asked about partnering with Midwest Games on publishing Hive Jump 2: Survivors, Raithel described it as two cars coming down the highway headed in the same direction, and generally a great fit for Graphite Lab. They pitched them on their interest in working with Midwest Games, their game, their loyalties to the Midwest, and now they are working together to get Hive Jump 2 published and released. “Midwest [Games] has shown a lot of confidence in us and helped us grow. And the game has gotten better and bigger and has implemented more player feedback because of their involvement.” Raithel said of the partnership.
You can play Hive Jump 2: Survivors now in early access on Steam, or Steam and gog.com when it hits 1.0 on September 10th.
