15-Year-Old Studio Drives Success Through Strong Player Communities

A direct testament to this vibrant and engaged player base is, of course, strong game sales. Another indicator is the recognition the studio has received through awards. In November 2024, Satisfactory was voted PC Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards.

“It’s a prestigious title,” commented Snutt Treptow, Community Manager at Coffee Stain Skövde, in an interview with SVT.

One of Skövde’s industry veterans, who joined Coffee Stain in September 2024, is Robert Lazic.

“I began in the University of Skövde’s game development program back in 2002. Right after that, I founded Colossai Studios with fellow students. That was in 2005, and we were the second team admitted to the incubator’s new focus on games at Science Park Skövde.”

Robert remembers that time as both fun and developmental, although financially tough.

“In the beginning, we lived off student loans, studying and making games simultaneously. Even after formally starting the company and paying salaries, those salaries were barely at student-loan levels.”

Much of the early journey with the game incubator was about learning.

“There were a lot of tentative attempts—test, learn, test again—both in our work as enthusiastic students developing games and in building connections with publishers and investors. We shared that journey with the incubator team. Of course, the incubator is now on a completely different level in every respect.”

As Studio Manager for Coffee Stain Studios in Skövde, overseeing 35 employees, Robert is involved in almost every aspect of the studio: day-to-day operations, future strategies, and overall growth.

“The company is incredibly successful at developing and selling high-quality games. It’s a process that takes time—development on Satisfactory began in 2016, and the 1.0 version wasn’t released until last year. A crucial part of that process is the long-term work of building, engaging, and collaborating with our community of players.

“My role is to maintain that culture but also to refine and evolve it by sharing the lessons I’ve gathered over 20 years at several Skövde-based companies,” Robert explains, emphasizing that the people at Coffee Stain are absolutely vital to continued success.

One example of investing in the team is the recently completed annual team-building week, a Game Jam.

“We divided everyone into five smaller teams and gave them a specific theme to build a game around. The idea isn’t to create new concepts for further development but rather to unleash creativity. It worked out great—each team presented a playable project, which we tested, judged, and rewarded with different prizes. It was a huge success. We’re fortunate to be able to organize something like this.”

Game development has become a significant part of Skövde’s business landscape. Coffee Stain Studios demonstrates this not only in terms of growth and finances but also through its office location. Since 2020, the company has been housed in Fjolner 5 on Hertig Johans gata—a building once home to Skaraborgsbanken and later Region Västra Götaland.

“It’s a cool statement to be in the ‘bank palace.’ It’s pretty awesome, honestly. But most important is that it’s centrally located and provides a great work environment, with everything from dedicated spaces for presentations and meetings to break areas complete with a kitchen, board games, ping pong, and shuffleboard. We also have a fully equipped in-house gym,” Robert Lazic adds.

Coffee Stain Studios was founded in 2010 and, like other studios in Skövde, began its journey through Sweden Game Startup at Science Park Skövde. The company is one of several under the Coffee Stain umbrella; the Skövde branch is the original team behind games and series such as I Love Strawberries (2010), Sanctum (2011), Goat Simulator (2014), and Satisfactory (2019).