As we move further into 2024, there are more and more changes popping up in the gaming industry. One fortunate change is the rebranding and relaunch of Epic Story Interactive, now officially known as Nightmarket Games.
Having released some great games with popular IPs such as Ben Ten and Beyblade, and having recently hit a milestone of over 100 million downloads across all of its games, it looks like the future is bright for the newly rebranded company.
We sat down with Creative Director Chad Greenway to talk about what inspired the change, what this means in the future, and, of course, what games they’ve got coming up alongside their new RTS, TitanCrash.
Now, let’s dive into our Nightmarket Games interview with Chad Greenway.
Pocket Tactics – What does the rebrand mean for the future of Nightmarket and its games? Will this lead to new projects on other platforms or expansions into other areas?
Chad Greenway – “Our core team has worked together for a long time, first as a part of Nerd Corps Entertainment, then DHX Media (now WildBrain), and then Epic Story Interactive. When we decided to rebrand as Nightmarket Games, we wanted to choose a name that reflected our roots living and working in Vancouver BC. There are some world-class night markets here, the Richmond Night Market being one of them.
When we think of night markets we think of an explosion of sights, sounds, delicious food, and spending time with friends and family. This is the perfect analogy for the creative work we do every day making video games. We try to craft game experiences that replicate that sense of discovery, adventure, and fun, and we do it together as a team.
Along with rebranding as Nightmarket Games, we want to double down on what we’re good at, which is creating truly engaging games with world-class brands. Working with evergreen brands like Beyblade Burst, Ben 10, and Slugterra has given us a solid foundation to build from.
We recently passed a big milestone of over 100 million downloads across all our games! This speaks to the love fans have of their favorite brands and the opportunity we have to engage fans at a deep level by expanding upon these story worlds. As Nightmarket Games we are continuing to seek out new and evergreen brands that we can partner with for new games on mobile, as well as PC and consoles.”
How did you find the process of creating a new logo, website, and look for your brand?
CG – “We worked closely with Mike Gallagher at Untitled Ad Lab to help us bring our rebrand to life. After coming up with the initial concept of Nightmarket Games and creating some very rough sketches, we started working with Mike and his team to develop our brand identity, a new logo, our website, and our sizzle reel. It was a fun process because each person really brought their own talent and creativity to the project. My job was to set the initial vision and then get out of the way!”
As a new launch, Nightmarket Games is sure to have several titles coming up. Is there any information you can give on this, or is it all currently under wraps? And, as this is Pocket Tactics – the home of all things mobile and Switch – we have to ask, will future titles come to the Nintendo Switch?
CG – “As a studio, we’re always actively prototyping and developing new game ideas. Since we are a Canadian studio, we’re lucky to be able to partner with the Canada Media Fund to help fund our prototyping and game development. We have several games that we’re interested in launching, one being a 1-4 player cooperative physics platformer for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Another game we’re interested in launching is a cooperative shoot-em-up with cooking mechanics, also for PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation! Nintendo Switch would be a natural fit for several of our cooperative games, so yes, we are interested in launching some of our new games on Switch.”
Nightmarket (as Epic Story Interactive) has experience making games using huge IPs like Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 and the Beyblades brand. Are there any new franchise collaborations you can tell us about?
CG – “We always have new projects in the works and are currently partnering with some exciting entertainment brands! We aren’t ready to make any official announcements yet, but there will be more news in the near future!”
How was it working with Cartoon Network – is this something you would do again?
CG – “Working with the Cartoon Network team on Ben 10 Heroes was a dream. It felt like a true collaboration as both teams worked hard to make the best possible Ben 10 game. Ben 10 as an evergreen brand is turning 20 in 2025 and that speaks volumes about the vitality and staying power of the story world. I would love to work with Cartoon Network again.”
With Beyblade and Ben 10 games, is there any difficulty trying to attract nostalgia for the series and new players at the same time?
CG – “The biggest challenge and opportunity working with brands like Beyblade Burst, Ben 10, and Slugterra is experiencing and internalizing that spark of magic that has engaged fans for so many years, and sometimes decades. So much effort goes into building a brand and story world across TV series, movies, toys, games, and live events and it is a huge responsibility to create a game that expands upon this world.
At the end of the day, we’re seeking that perfect storm of creating a fun game that also captures the magic of the brand. If we do it right, our games can expand upon story worlds loved by existing fans while also growing new generations of fans!”
Nightmarket’s next game is a real-time strategy game, Titan Crash. Is it coming to mobile platforms or Nintendo Switch, and what can you tell us about it?
CG – “TitanCrash is a real-time cooperative action strategy game with base-building and lane offense. Currently, the focus is to launch TitanCrash on mobile, but I would love to see a Switch version as well. The challenge, of course, is redesigning some of the mobile-specific user interactions to work smoothly on a console like the Switch. TitanCrash is currently in development and is slated for soft launch in May on the Apple App Store and Google Play store.”
To close out our chat, I asked if Chad had any last words or even a joke to add. He did. Here it is – “Why can’t you blindfold a Pokémon? It’ll Pikachu!”. Excellent! Thank you very much to the Nighmarket team for taking the time to speak to us, and we at Pocket Tactics wish them the best with their studio launch!
If you like a bit of Ben 10, check out our favorite Cartoon Network games, and our picks of the best mobile games available right now.