Alexander Black’s production company Lyrical Media has launched privately funded indie video game publisher Lyrical Games.
The newly founded studio, which will be led by Private Division and UTA alum Blake Rochkind, already has three projects in production with developers, including a new title from “Hardspace: Shipbreaker” maker Blackbird Interactive.
This new entity launches out of Lyrical Media, which had already been dabbling in gaming alongside its many upcoming film and TV projects, including: Adam Wingard’s “Onslaught” and Michael Sarnoski’s “The Death of Robin Hood” starring Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, and Bill Skarsgård, both of which will be distributed by A24, as well as adaptations of Emily Henry’s “Funny Story,” Brynne Weaver’s “Butcher & Blackbird,” and Lauren Roberts’ “Powerless.”
Per Lyrical Media, its indie gaming company “aims to support imaginative and high-caliber games that live between the extremes of smaller indies and massive AAA productions. With traditional publishers increasingly backing safe bets and dodging risk, Lyrical Games is stepping up to fund bold developers with vision, polish, and a clear path toward breaking through in an ever-competitive marketplace.”
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Most recently head of business development at indie publisher Private Division (which was then owned by Take-Two Interactive) and previously a video game agent at UTA, Rochkind is joined at Lyrical Games by fellow Private Division vet Roger Kurtz (former head of production) and a team of four other employees with backgrounds in games publishing at Devolver Digital, Humble Games, Microsoft and more.
Rochkind says Lyrical Media has put “many millions of dollars in investment” into Lyrical Games already and has its sights set on “making a big splash” at a tumultuous time for the gaming industry. In fact, Lyrical will be releasing its first games next year.
“Obviously, there was a super cycle in the games business and many, many people are exiting or canceling projects,” Rochkind said. “So a huge part of our philosophy was that this is a really unique moment in time. I want to be very clear, some things we do will be projects that are paper pitches that are not releasing for three years. However, there were some things that came about because of when we started this company, and because we were able to pick up some opportunistic things, we have some games that will be announced very, very soon and will be coming out in 2026. So this is not the type of thing where we are announcing something and you won’t hear from us until 2028. It’s exciting and also somewhat stressful, but we’re hitting the ground running and we will announce games this year and we will release games next year.”
The team says it is “looking to partner with a wide spectrum of developers, from seasoned veterans with years of experience to newer studios looking to push the envelope with fresh ideas.”
“From the very beginning of Lyrical Media, we set out to be a premier home for amazing storytelling regardless of medium,” Black said. “We want to empower fiercely passionate game creators by bridging the gap between their art and the players who stand to be moved by it. Lyrical Games has the experience to know that we are nothing without our partners and their vision.”
