Fortell Games

Fortell Games, Inc. (stylized as FØRTELL GAMES) is a Ukrainian-American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in May 2022 in Wilmington, Delaware by game industry veteran Alexey Menshikov who previously ran former Kyiv based studio Beatshapers.https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/api/report/GetImageByNum/013201233225144201119177196231112060045079237168 The company is best known for its unexpected acquisition of Blocksworld in 2023.
==History==
Fortell Games, Inc. was founded on the 24 May 2022 in Wilmington, Delaware. It relocated to Santa Monica in August that same year.https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/api/report/GetImageByNum/027123230091219118101062189195169220235238105090 The companies first publicly revealed game was Machines of Madness, which released as a demo on the 24 August 2023.https://store.steampowered.com/app/2453950/Machines_of_Madness/ The full release is to be announced.
===Acquisition of Blocksworld===
Fortell first made a splash in late 2023 when rumors started circulating among online fan communities that Linden Lab's 2012 sandbox game Blocksworld had been sold to Fortell Games.https://modemworld.me/2023/12/06/is-blocksworld-a-former-linden-lab-property-about-to-make-a-comeback/ The game, originally developed by Swedish company BoldAI AB, had shut down in 2020 after a steady decline over its lifetime.https://www.reddit.com/r/blocksworld/comments/he9g49/blocksworld_is_fully_shut_down_for_now/ The news caused a stir among Blocksworlds small remaining fanbase and generated a following for Fortell Games. As of 2023, there has been no official announcement of a revival, with Alexey Menshikov saying they have made "no promises",https://www.reddit.com/r/blocksworld/comments/18ep7om/blocksworld_community_research_form/ however it seems to be in active development. Fortell is also the parent of a new company, called Blocksworld LLC.
==Games developed==
Game 	Developer(s) 	Publisher 	Platform(s) 	Date 	Source
Machines of Madness	Fortell Games, Beatshapers 	Fortell Games	Steam 	24 August 2023 (demo), full release TBA	https://store.steampowered.com/app/2453950/Machines_of_Madness/
Blocksworld 	Fortell Games, Blocksworld LLC	Fortell Games	Steam, iOS (other platforms TBA)	TBA 	https://store.steampowered.com/app/642390/Blocksworld/
==Controversy==
Fortell Games received criticism after the mention of a possible Skibidi Toilet blockster in the games research Google form. Critics feared that it would hurt creativity. Alexey admitted that he never actually wanted to add Skibidi Toilet to Blocksworld, saying that he saw it as a suggestion on Discord and thought his kids would like it.
The company has also received controversy from the Blocksworld 2 community regarding possible legal action against the fan project. While nothing has happened as of yet, it is possible that if it continues to run after the release of the revival legal action could proceed.
==References==
Category:Blocksworld