Our Mission
To create authored, player-centric stories across the spectrum of narrative genres.
Our History
Half Mermaid is a video game production company based in Brooklyn, New York.
We were founded in 2017 by four time Bafta winning writer-director Sam Barlow, creator of Her Story.
In 2019, our first title, Telling Lies, was published by Annapurna Interactive. This intimate investigative thriller received rave reviews and was heralded for the depth of its story and the performances of its cast.
In 2022, we released IMMORTALITY to critical acclaim, including receiving the first perfect 10/10 score in Edge Magazine for an independent game. It tells the story of Marissa Marcel, a vanished actress who starred in three movies that were never released.
In 2023, we began production on our most ambitious titles to date, Project C██████ and Project D████.
Who We Are
Sam Barlow
CEO
The stories that shaped me:
One Thousand and One Nights
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The Story of the Eye
Connor Carson
Lead Programmer
The stories that shaped me:
The Lord of the Rings
Aliens
The Phantom of the Opera
Natalie Watson
Producer
The stories that shaped me:
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
To the Lighthouse
Our Values
As the founding members of Half Mermaid, we worked together to establish the following values for our studio. For an in-depth explanation behind each of these pillars, please visit our Brand Value Deck.
Community
Our studio was founded in Brooklyn, outside the central hub of the game industry and surrounded by the deep history of storytelling, art, and culture in New York City. We have the opportunity to enrich the development of games around our home, and the responsibility to include and amplify new and underrepresented voices in our scene.
Innovation
We are driven to create new game genres and push the boundaries of how game mechanics are utilized to tell stories. As popular entertainment continues to become more interactive, we aim to shape its future.
Integrity
We believe in a proactive approach to ensuring the quality of our work and how we go about making it. We value and nurture the voices of our creators. When mistakes are made, we listen, learn, and take action.
Inclusivity
We are the change we want to see in the gaming industry. That means we center narratives around a diverse set of individuals. It also means we are and work with a diverse set of individuals, providing a multiplicity of perspectives on our methods and projects.
Logo design by Patricia Thomasson.