Guru Games

Guru Games, officially Guiding Rules Games AB, is a Swedish game development studio that originated from a group of computer game students at the University of Skövde in 2011. The group formally established the company in 2014, led by CEO Daniel Ström. The founders' journey began during their studies, where a motivated group of friends decided to spend their summer in 2013 creating games together, which led to them being scouted by the Science Park Skövde incubator. After joining the startup program, they graduated in 2017. Initially facing profitability challenges, the studio persevered, and as of 2020, original members Daniel Ström and 3D artist Johannes Jonsson remained with the company alongside a growing team.

The studio's business model encompasses both the creation of its own intellectual property and providing co-development services to other game studios. This dual approach has allowed them to build technical proficiency across various genres and platforms, including PC, consoles, mobile, and VR. This versatility and technical skill were key factors in their acquisition by Thunderful Group in February 2020. The acquisition provided Guru Games with greater stability and resources, allowing them to focus on larger projects as part of a 170-person collective and benefit from the support network of other Thunderful-owned studios like Image & Form and Zoink. Following the acquisition, Guru Games was merged with these studios to form Thunderful Development AB.

Guru Games' first title was "Magnetic," released in May 2015. They gained recognition for their work on various projects, establishing themselves as a valued partner for several renowned Swedish game studios. Operating from Skövde, a hub for game development in Sweden, the company is part of a vibrant ecosystem supported by the local university and Science Park, which has fostered numerous successful gaming companies. The business generates revenue through the development and sale of their own games and by offering their development expertise as a service to other companies, helping them with platform porting, game polishing, and meeting development milestones.

Keywords: Guru Games, Guiding Rules Games, Thunderful Group, Skövde game development, Daniel Ström, Swedish game studio, game co-development, PC games, console games, VR development, mobile games, Science Park Skövde, Thunderful Development, Magnetic game, game development services, video game outsourcing, indie game developer, Johannes Jonsson, European gaming industry, Nordic game developer