Giant Squid LLC

Giant Squid is an American independent game development studio based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in March 2013 by Matt Nava, longtime art director at thatgamecompany known for Flower (2009) and Journey (2012), alongside lead designer Nicholas Clark and composer Austin Wintory from Journey. The film production company The Ink Factory also helped co-found and finance the studio.

At the creative helm is Matt Nava, whose prior work on visually driven titles like Flower and Journey focusing on movement and flow has left a lasting influence on Giant Squid’s design ethos. Supporting the studio are a diverse group of veterans in programming, technical artistry, animation, operations, and production roles, including Tim Ambrogi Saxon, James Chao, Derek Cornish, Julia Earp, Matt Fielding, Joel Finney, Cosmo Fumo, Erica Ishijima Hsu, Tina Kowalewski, and more, many with backgrounds at major studios or in indie development.

Giant Squid's debut game, Abzû, was announced at E3 2014 and released in August 2016 via publisher 505 Games. The ocean exploration experience was widely praised for its artistry and musical composition. Their follow-up, The Pathless, released in November 2020 through Annapurna, offers a mythic forest adventure featuring archery and eagle-companion dynamics. Giant Squid announced a new game, Sword of the Sea, during a 2023 PlayStation showcase, promising surfing-like traversal and atmospheric adventure mechanics. It was released in August 2025.

Giant Squid's games are defined by their emphasis on fluid, expressive movement, such as swimming in Abzû, aerial traversal and archery in The Pathless, and surfing in Sword of the Sea. The studio avoids hyper-violence, instead crafting approachable yet emotionally resonant experiences suitable for both younger and adult audiences, grounded in depth and symbolism. They value games as an artistic medium, aiming to deliver "beautiful, meaningful, and timeless" experiences.