Game Studios That Handle Development and Ongoing Live Operations (2026)
As of 2 November 2026, 65 game studios in this directory describe live ops work, including Keywords Studios, Sumo Digital and GlobalStep. Live ops is the work of keeping a released game running: events and seasonal content, patches, balance and economy changes, server monitoring and platform updates. Some studios build the game and stay on, some join your team as co-developers, and some take over a game someone else built. The table below shows what each says it does, with a link to the page. Membership comes from the specialty tags on each listing, checked against the studio's own site or claimed listing. Featured listings sit at the top of the list and are labelled; the rest follow the directory's score.
Compare Live Ops Studios at a glance
The top 10 Live Ops Studios on this list, side by side. Featured listings first, then by profile completeness score — the same order as the cards below.
| Studio | City | Country | Team size | Founded | Engines | Platforms | Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keywords Studios | Dublin | Ireland | 1000+ | 1998 | Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +4 | 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation +7 |
| Sumo Digital | Sheffield | United Kingdom | 1000+ | 2003 | Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +3 | Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art +4 |
| GlobalStep | Dallas | United States | 1000+ | 2006 | Unreal Engine, Unity | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +3 | Programming, Game Design, QA Testing +2 |
| Room 8 Group | Limassol | Cyprus | 1000+ | 2011 | Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +4 | 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation +6 |
| Testronic | London | United Kingdom | 1000+ | 1998 | Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine +1 | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +3 | QA Testing, Localization |
| Amber | Bucharest | Romania | 501-1000 | 2013 | Unity, Unreal Engine | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +3 | Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art +3 |
| Starloop Studios | Valencia | Spain | 501-1000 | 2011 | Unity, Unreal Engine | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +5 | 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation +4 |
| Pingle Studio | Kyiv | Ukraine | 201-500 | 2007 | Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +3 | Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art +5 |
| NipsApp Game Studios | Trivandrum | India | 51-200 | 2010 | Unity, Unreal Engine, Cocos2D +2 | PC, iOS, Android +5 | Programming, 2D Art, 3D Art +7 |
| N-iX Games | Lviv | Ukraine | 201-500 | 2012 | Unreal Engine, Unity | PC, PlayStation, Xbox +4 | Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art +4 |
Every field comes from the studio's own listing; a dash means the listing does not record it. Open a profile for the full detail.
Top Live Ops Studios
The Global Services Platform for Video Games and Beyond
Dublin, Ireland · 1000+ people · Founded 1998 · 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation · Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine
Crafting Unforgettable Gaming Experiences
Sheffield, United Kingdom · 1000+ people · Founded 2003 · Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine
Powering the World's Best Games
Dallas, United States · 1000+ people · Founded 2006 · Programming, Game Design, QA Testing · Unreal Engine, Unity
Complete game outsourcing solutions
Limassol, Cyprus · 1000+ people · Founded 2011 · 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation · Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine
First-Time Submission Success
London, United Kingdom · 1000+ people · Founded 1998 · QA Testing, Localization · Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine
Building Games That Players Love
Bucharest, Romania · 501-1000 people · Founded 2013 · Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine
Your One-Stop Game Development Partner
Valencia, Spain · 501-1000 people · Founded 2011 · 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation · Unity, Unreal Engine
Your Reliable Game Development Partner
Kyiv, Ukraine · 201-500 people · Founded 2007 · Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine
Indie Game Development Partner
Trivandrum, India · 51-200 people · Founded 2010 · Programming, 2D Art, 3D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine, Cocos2D
Engineering Excellence for Games
Lviv, Ukraine · 201-500 people · Founded 2012 · Programming, 3D Art, 2D Art · Unreal Engine, Unity
AAA Quality Co-Development
San Francisco, United States · 201-500 people · Founded 2004 · Programming, 3D Art, Full Production · Unreal Engine, Unity, Custom Engine
Expert Co-Development, Porting, End-to-End Art Production
Austin, United States · 51-200 people · Founded 2018 · Programming, QA Testing, Full Production · Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine · Credits: Arc Raiders - co-dev; Halo: Campaign Evolved - end-to-end lighting
Monterrey art and co-development studio staffing senior pods for AAA teams
Monterrey, Mexico · 201-500 people · Founded 2007 · 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation · Unreal Engine, Unity, Custom Engine
NFT & Traditional Game Development
Limassol, Cyprus · 51-200 people · Founded 2007 · Programming, 2D Art, 3D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine
Comprehensive Game Testing
Chennai, India · 201-500 people · Founded 2010 · QA Testing · Unity, Unreal Engine, Custom Engine
Indian software and game developer: full-cycle games, art, porting and LiveOps
New Delhi, India · 201-500 people · Founded 2011 · Full Production, Co-Development, Programming · Unity, Unreal Engine, Cocos2D
Full-Service Game Production
Dublin, Ireland · 51-200 people · Founded 2016 · 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation · Unity, Unreal Engine · Credits: Blizzard; EA
Unreal Engine co-development, console porting and full-cycle studio for publishers
Prague, Czech Republic · 201-500 people · Founded 2010 · Co-Development, Porting, Programming · Unreal Engine
Complete Game Development Solutions
Bangalore, India · 51-200 people · Founded 2011 · Programming, 2D Art, 3D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine
Creative Game Development
Montreal, Canada · 51-200 people · Founded 2011 · Programming, 2D Art, 3D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine
European Art Excellence
Gdansk, Poland · 51-200 people · Founded 2015 · 2D Art, 3D Art, Animation · Unity, Unreal Engine
P2E & Blockchain Games
Lviv, Ukraine · 51-200 people · Founded 2014 · Programming, 2D Art, 3D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine
Full-Cycle Game Development with 2D/3D Art & Animation
London, United Kingdom · 51-200 people · Founded 2018 · 2D Art, QA Testing, 3D Art · Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot
Austin AAA action and multiplayer co-developer behind Halo and Call of Duty work
Austin, United States · 201-500 people · Founded 2006 · Co-Development, Full Production, Programming · Unreal Engine
Oregon developer for co-development, full development and live ops on AAA games
Eugene, United States · 201-500 people · Founded 1999 · Full Production, Co-Development, Programming
Game QA, localization and UX testing company for PC, console and mobile titles
Cluj-Napoca, Romania · 201-500 people · Founded 2006 · QA Testing, Localization, UI/UX Design
Bold Game Development
Lisbon, Portugal · 51-200 people · Founded 2016 · Programming, Game Design, Full Production · Unity, Unreal Engine
Recife external development studio for AAA/AA art production, co-dev and full dev
Recife, Brazil · 51-200 people · Founded 2011 · Co-Development, Full Production, 3D Art · Unreal Engine, CryEngine
Guanajuato studio for console porting, co-development, 3D art and full-cycle games
Guanajuato, Mexico · 51-200 people · Founded 2012 · Full Production, Co-Development, Programming · Unreal Engine, Unity, Custom Engine
Web3 & NFT Game Development
Bangalore, India · 51-200 people · Founded 2019 · Programming, 3D Art, Game Design · Unity, Unreal Engine
Unity and Unreal game development company for mobile, PC, WebGL and VR clients
New York, United States · 51-200 people · Founded 2015 · Full Production, Co-Development, Programming · Unity, Unreal Engine
Full-Stack Game Consulting
Baton Rouge, United States · 1-10 people · Founded 2018 · Game Design, 3D Art, Animation · Unity, Unreal Engine
Austin studio group for AAA co-development, full-cycle games and transmedia IP
Austin, United States · 51-200 people · Founded 2021 · Full Production, Co-Development, Programming · Unreal Engine, Unity, Custom Engine
Liverpool AAA co-development studio for features, remasters, ports and live support
Liverpool, United Kingdom · 51-200 people · Founded 2017 · Co-Development, Full Production, Porting · Unreal Engine, Unity, Custom Engine
Sacramento Unity studio for full-cycle mobile, PC, VR and AR game development
Sacramento, United States · 11-50 people · Founded 2018 · Full Production, Programming, Co-Development · Unity, Unreal Engine
Co-development, full game development, art and QA partner for AAA publishers
Las Vegas, United States · 51-200 people · Founded 2001 · Co-Development, Full Production, Programming
Game Narrative Development
Moscow, Russia · 11-50 people · Founded 2017 · Narrative & Writing, Game Design, Programming · Unity, Unreal Engine
Unreal Engine full-SKU development, game backend and live-ops studio
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia · 51-200 people · Founded 2008 · Full Production, Programming, Game Design · Unreal Engine
Barcelona game art and production partner with embedded teams for live games
Barcelona, Spain · 51-200 people · Founded 2018 · 3D Art, 2D Art, Animation
Game QA studio with Unity co-development, porting and player-support teams
Bucharest, Romania · 51-200 people · Founded 2019 · QA Testing, Co-Development, Programming · Unity
Pasig City provider of live ops, player support and QA testing for game publishers
Pasig City, Philippines · 201-500 people · Founded 2010 · QA Testing
Hyper-Casual Game Experts
Kyiv, Ukraine · 11-50 people · Founded 2019 · Programming, 2D Art, Game Design · Unity
Unity game development and art outsourcing for casual, mid-core and Web3 games
Hanoi, Vietnam · 11-50 people · Founded 2019 · Full Production, Co-Development, Programming · Unity, Cocos2D
LiveOps Specialists
San Francisco, United States · 11-50 people · Founded 2014 · Game Design, Marketing
Turkey Unity studio for full-cycle development, multiplayer, VR and team extension
Ankara, Turkey · 11-50 people · Founded 2022 · Full Production, Programming, Co-Development · Unity
Bogotá studio for game co-development, full development, art and animation
Bogotá, Colombia · Founded 2014 · Full Production, Co-Development, Game Design · Unity, Unreal Engine
Roblox and Fortnite studio building branded games and campaigns for brands and IP
Los Angeles, United States · 51-200 people · Founded 2019 · Full Production, Game Design, Programming
F2P Design Specialists
Vancouver, Canada · 1-10 people · Founded 2008 · Game Design
London Unity studio for game development, co-development, porting and optimisation
London, United Kingdom · 1-10 people · Founded 2020 · Programming, Full Production, Co-Development · Unity · Credits: Nub — Unity rebuild and cross-platform development; Domi Online — Lead development and multiplayer engineering
Melbourne developer of console ports, remasters and co-development for major publishers
Melbourne, Australia · Founded 1994 · Porting, Co-Development, Programming
Run a studio that belongs on this list? See which live ops studios ChatGPT named for buyer questions on 24 September 2026, and add yours free.
Find studios for your project
Start with Full Production and Co-Development ticked, then add your engine and budget to see matching studios. Review the matches before sharing any contact details.
How We Select
Build it and run it, or join a live team
Decide which you are buying before you compare names. A studio that builds your game and stays on keeps the people who know the code, and you depend on one vendor. A co-development team joins a game you already run, on your calendar and in your repository, and needs time to learn it. A takeover moves a released game from one team to another, so it needs overlap and a date. Some of these studios sell only one slice, such as event art, backend engineering or testing, and the table says so. This is what each studio says about itself, not a ranking.
What each studio says it does
31 rows
| Kind of work | Studio | What its page says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build and run | A Plus Games Studio | Ongoing LiveOps and maintenance retainers, for seasonal events, new mechanics and platform updates | Offer |
| Build and run | CrocoApps | Content updates, events, bug fixing, balancing and regression QA, on a retainer, sprints or a maintenance package | LiveOps |
| Build and run | GameCoder Studios | Full-cycle production, with backend architecture and scalable Live-Ops (GaaS) solutions | Services |
| Build and run | Red Apple Technologies | Crash monitoring, event calendars, economy tuning, content drops and A/B tests | Game development |
| Build and run | NipsApp | Concept to launch and live-ops support, with SLA-backed live operations | Home |
| Build and run | Stepico | Full-cycle iOS and Android development, then content releases, timed events and server administration | Live operation |
| Co-development | Room 8 Group | LiveOps teams that become an extension of your studio, taking over at launch or sunset | LiveOps |
| Co-development | iXie Gaming | Managed LiveOps puts a dedicated pod on your live game | LiveOps |
| Co-development | CGBOT | A LiveOps pod for games already in players' hands | Home |
| Co-development | Modma Studios | Live ops development, seasonal content and post-launch support for live service teams | Services |
| Co-development | Pipeworks Studios | Games-as-a-Service development, co-development and live operations on all platforms | Home |
| Takeover | Sumo Digital | Full live ops takeover in stages: mobilisation, shadowing, dual running, live running | Live ops |
| Takeover | StudioKrew | Frequently takes over LiveOps from other studios, with runbooks written before it assumes responsibility | LiveOps |
| Takeover, mobile | Devoted Studios | Says taking over a live mobile game is its usual starting point | LiveOps |
| Casual and events | iLogos Game Studios | Weekly events and seasonal content for mobile games, inside your systems | Live ops |
| Casual and events | Galaxy4Games | Casual game development through LiveOps, managing events, updates and content drops | Casual games |
| Event art only | Donkey Tale | Seasonal events, chapters, characters and outfits for match-3 and merge games, on its claimed listing | Listing |
| Event art only | Cosmic Cloud Studios | Seasonal asset sets for events and updates | Home |
| PC and console | Magic Media | Live services for PC, console and mobile games, with content roadmaps | Live services |
| PC and console | Sperasoft | 24/7 network operations, and says its team has supported New World and Lost Ark | King of Meat |
| PC and console | Pingle Studio | Server maintenance, infrastructure scaling, performance monitoring and feature updates for multiplayer games | Multiplayer |
| PC and console | Certain Affinity | Supports games with content updates, bug fixes and player feedback cycles | What we do |
| Retention | Sonamine | A live ops and CRM team that runs campaigns for monetization, engagement and retention | Services |
| Retention | Arctic7 | Live-ops and monetization: optimizing player retention and economy design | Europe studios |
| Older games | LYNXBYTE GAMES | Brings older Android games up to Google Play's requirements, then adds content and updates | Mobile LiveOps |
| Older games | Ocean View Games | Retainers for released Unity games. Says it has not shipped a console title | LiveOps |
| Backend only | Ammobox Studios | Backend services through to live operations, and CI/CD pipelines | Home |
| Backend only | ZeroHint | Live-ops backends: accounts, progression, events and remote configuration | Multiplayer |
| Backend only | Estrix Studio | Multiplayer engineering, with a monthly support agreement | Home |
| Testing only | Alkotech Labs | Testing for patches, DLC, seasonal content and live-service updates | Services |
| Testing only | Pixel Bowl Studio | Verifies updates and investigates reported issues on a live game | Services |
Examples of what studios say, not a ranking, and not every studio on the list. Ask each for a live game it still supports and a client who can confirm it.
Sources, as of 2 November 2026: Sumo Digital, live ops, Room 8 Group, LiveOps, StudioKrew, game LiveOps services, iLogos, game live ops, Magic Media, live services, Sperasoft, King of Meat.
How to choose a live ops studio
Ask which live games the studio supports today, how long it has run them and what it shipped last month. Then get these terms in writing, because few studios publish them, and our live ops outsourcing guide shows what each one says:
- Response time: two numbers by severity, one to triage and one to fix.
- Content cadence: a past calendar, with what shipped and what slipped.
- On-call cover: who gets woken up, in which time zones, and whether they can change code.
- Tooling access: whose accounts hold the repository, store consoles, analytics and cloud.
- Handover: dated stages with overlap on the way in, and documents and notice on the way out.
What live ops costs
Vendors that publish figures run from $2,000 to $5,000 a month for basic maintenance at StudioKrew up to $120,000 to $250,000 or more a month for a full live team at Innovecs, which is not listed here. Those are different scopes, so they are not one market range, and we found no survey of what buyers paid. The price table links each figure. Player support may be a separate contract, and its costs are here.
Frequently asked questions
Which studios can handle both game development and ongoing live operations?
The 65 studios on this list describe live ops work on their own site or claimed listing, as of 2 November 2026. Studios on it include Keywords Studios, Sumo Digital and GlobalStep. Those that sell both full-cycle development and live ops include A Plus Games Studio, CrocoApps and NipsApp. We don't rate them. Ask which of their live games they built themselves, how long they have run them, and whether the launch team stays on. A studio that hands off at release leaves you paying another team to learn the code. Then read the terms: who is on call, who owns the accounts and what a handover looks like.
Which game studios offer co-development with dedicated liveops teams?
Studios that describe a dedicated team inside your project include Room 8 Group, which says its LiveOps teams become an extension of your studio, and iXie Gaming, whose managed service puts a dedicated pod on your live game. CGBOT sells a LiveOps pod, and Modma Studios supports live service teams with seasonal content and post-launch support. Sumo Digital offers anything from targeted support to a full takeover. Ask for the named people, how much of their time is yours, and whether they work in your repository and calendar. On a shared team, ask what else they are assigned to.
What are the top studios for casual game development with live events support?
Studios that name both include Galaxy4Games, which offers casual game development and says it manages events, updates and content drops, and iLogos Game Studios, which sells weekly event execution for mobile games. Devoted Studios runs mobile LiveOps with events going live server-side. For event art alone, Donkey Tale and Cosmic Cloud Studios make seasonal content. We don't rank them. Ask for an event calendar from a live casual game, and how changes ship without a store release. Innovecs, a developer, says casual mobile games often run something every day and a larger event every week, so check the team can sustain that.
Which studios offer full-cycle mobile game development with liveops?
Studios that name it include A Plus Games Studio, Stepico, Galaxy4Games, Red Apple Technologies and StudioKrew. Ask for a mobile title still live, how long they have run it, and who tracks Google Play and App Store deadlines. If you want a studio near Tallinn, EJAW gives a Tallinn address and says its developers keep working after release, with regular content updates, though it does not use the term live ops. Ask whoever you shortlist who covers your time zone out of hours.
Which studios can manage ongoing live ops for PC games after launch?
Studios that name PC live ops include Sumo Digital, which covers PC, console and mobile and lists Fall Guys and Human Fall Flat among its live titles, and Magic Media, which offers live services for PC games. Sperasoft says its network operations team has supported New World and Lost Ark, and Pipeworks Studios says it works on all platforms. On PC a hotfix can ship fast and players read the patch notes closely, according to Innovecs, so ask how quickly a fix reaches players, who watches the servers overnight and whether you can see the incident log.
Which game development partners have experience in player retention systems?
Partners that describe retention work include iLogos Game Studios, which designs retention mechanics, engagement loops and event logic, and StudioKrew, which plans around day 1, day 7 and day 30 drop-off. iXie Gaming says it models churn, Arctic7 lists economy design and player retention, and Sonamine runs live ops and CRM campaigns. Retention claims are easy to make, so ask for a retention curve from a named game before and after a specific change, and how they separated that from user acquisition. Keep the data in your own analytics account.
How do I check a studio's live ops support experience?
Ask which games the studio still supports today, for how long, and what it shipped last month. A studio with real experience can show a dated release calendar and an incident report. Being on this list means a studio names the work, not that we have tested it. Ask for one client reference on a live title, compare candidates in the vendor scorecard, and put the five terms in the live ops outsourcing guide to each of them. If a studio can't name a game it still supports, treat its live ops as a plan rather than a record.
What's the best game studio for live, evolving game worlds?
We don't name one, because the right studio depends on who owns the world's content and who runs its servers. For content, Magic Media describes roadmaps from small quests to large map expansions, and Certain Affinity says it supports games with lasting content updates. For servers, Sperasoft describes 24/7 monitoring of infrastructure, queues, matchmaking and progression. Pipeworks Studios says it focuses on games-as-a-service development. Ask each for a world it has kept changing for over a year, and what broke along the way.
What is the difference between live ops and game maintenance?
Maintenance keeps a game working, with bug fixes, SDK updates and store rules. Live ops also gives players a reason to come back, with events, content and economy changes. StudioKrew prices the gap: it advertises $2,000 to $5,000 a month for basic maintenance and monitoring, and $5,000 to $15,000 a month once seasonal events, economy balancing and A/B testing are added. If your game earns steadily and has a loyal audience, maintenance may be enough. If revenue depends on returning players, budget for events too.
How much does outsourced live ops cost?
Vendors publish about $2,000 to $5,000 a month for basic maintenance at StudioKrew, and $120,000 to $250,000 or more a month for a full live team at Innovecs, and Whimsy Games estimates $10,000 to $20,000 a month for monthly events. These are vendors' own figures for different scopes, not what buyers paid. Event frequency and platform count move the price most, according to both Whimsy Games and Innovecs. The live ops outsourcing guide links each figure, with what each package covers.
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