Three Questions to: Tiny Roar

12. Oktober 2021

Three Questions to: Tiny Roar - the studio behind Zelda-like "XEL"

The indie studio Tiny Roar has been around in the Hamburg games industry for over six years now. Recently, at gamescom 2021, they announced their latest project, the sci-fi-adventure XEL. We took the opportunity to do a quick three-question-interview with Tiny Roar’s co-founder and game director Maurice Hagelstein.

Earlier this year, Tiny Roar celebrated its 6-year studio anniversary – what’s your personal highlight from the last six years of Tiny Roar?

That we are still around... and kicking. But honestly, looking back at how we started out rather humble and fighting our way into existence with only 3 people and looking at the team now, we couldn't be more grateful. Every single person on our team is just loveable and working together always feels like a collaborative effort. So yeah, I would say each new team member is a highlight in its own right.

You recently announced your latest project, the sci-fi-action-adventure “XEL” – what will make this game special for the players, and what makes this project special for Tiny Roar?

I can just say the most cliché marketing thing, but it is so very true: XEL is the by far, the most ambitious and exciting project we ever got to work on. Every single team member is shaping the project in their own way. So what you will get to play next year, will be a tapestry of love for games held together by the vision to tell a story that you will remember fondly and that will introduce you to one of your new favorite video game characters: Reid.

Gameplay screenshot from XEL, presented at gamescom 2021

In the past years your team saw quite a growth from three people to 19 employees – and as far as we’re informed, you’re also hiring right now. Any plans on when to change your name to “Big Roar”?

It's kinda crazy. Sometimes we ask ourselves how this happened, as we started with only three people, and now we are 19.
Growing slowly but steady allowed us to take on several and bigger projects like XEL and bring expertise that make our games the way they are. When we founded the company, we could only dream about having so many incredible people in our studio, working with us. We named our studio Tiny Roar to show right away that we like to make noise, but not in a braggy or over-compensating way. We hope we will remain so humble and will never have to change our name ;)

Want to know more about Tiny Roar? Visit their Website or Twitter.

Interested in working in the games industry? Tiny Roar is currently looking for an assistant to the management.

This interview appeared first in our monthly Gamecity Hamburg newsletter. Subscribe now to always get news and stories from the Hamburg games industry directyl to your inbox!

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