GAST
Manifesto
On this day the [DD] of [month] 2026, we announce GAST.
A ghost is haunting the machine: the ghost of a sustainable funding structure between us, the creators, and the moneylenders of the world, the machine. Before the impact of the live-service nuclear detonation; before the planet-wide tides of industry consolidation; before the time when the C-suites stayed just a little longer until they stormed out of the meeting room full of new ideas, this ghost was what enabled many of us to believe, to believe in a chance to create something truly unique and, in doing so, resonate with the ludens of the world.
A ghost is haunting the machine: the ghost of emergent interaction among the audience, the ludens; an infinite series of 0s and 1s which we call video games, the machine; us, the creators, who have to create for we know of nothing else worthy. Before the nuclear blast of digital attention harvesters; before the planet-tall waves of generative AI; before the time when executives waited just a little longer until they dialed the phone reading the quarterly report, this ghost was what sparked some of us to believe, to believe in an opportunity to create neither an interactable animation entirely for the sake of emotion nor an emergent device entirely for the sake of “fun.”
There is a spiral of stairs leading to somewhere unknown and good, somewhere mysterious and glorious. Sapient consciousness from the creators and the audience shake hands in the machine, communicating over an infinite span of time and space. That sapient passion reconstructed in the machine is one of the many reasons why video games are the art representing this brave new world. And the only way (so we believe) to climb there is to focus on single-player games that treat narrative and play as one, so that the gospels of the creators can only be understood through the absolute engagement of the audience, birthing an emergent experience that is like nothing else.
That ghost in the machine is the answer to “How do games mean?”, so we believe.
That ghost in the machine is the answer to “How to get money?”, so we believe.
The problem
There is a toxic relationship between studios and publishers. Talented studios spend years looking for funding, and if they are able to survive this starvation they are still left with an extremely unfavourable contract. As soon as a studio is in a position of not needing the funding, it cuts the relationship and does everything in house.
The effect is a non-existent appetite for risk. Fewer games published, fewer jobs in the market, and endless possible worlds never seen.
Our vision
Change the relationship between studios and publishers. Unite the studios into a syndicate, win from each other, hold more leverage, and make the deals favourable for everyone. Fight the current system like David against Goliath. More games published, more studios doing what they love, and a real change from a broken system.
Our solution
A new business model that changes the incentives in the market. A cooperative publisher, created by and for the studios, uniting many smaller studios under one umbrella. The studios own a part of the publisher and the publisher owns a part of them. Everyone benefits from the success of everyone else. No more unfavourable contracts.
Join us.
Hi. You lit it. I am Bo. I have been in this machine a while.
I work at a studio. We make games, we are not a publisher. I have sat through the funding rounds and read the contracts, and GAST is what I would want on the other side of the table. I am not here to sell you anything.
Navigating indie game financing is a scary place. There is a lot down here that does not want what is best for us ghosts.
[NN,000] people in games lost their jobs since [year]. Studios closed the same month they shipped something good.
The big houses have spent [years] buying each other. Fewer companies decide what gets financed every year, and the people deciding are further and further from anyone who has shipped a game.
Studios that do find a publisher wait [six to twelve] months after launch to see their own money. A lot of them do not last that long.
So the safe bet wins. Another sequel, another live-service, another thing that already worked once. The strange and specific gets a polite no.
And every studio fights this alone. That is the part we think is wrong. Keep going, I will light the way.
So far, GAST is not real. Together with investors and studios we are finding out whether the interest is actually there.
Kept in your browser only, until this site has a home of its own
Later this month we are putting on a first meeting: studios and a few people from the industry, at one of our potential backers' offices. Free beer for every ghost.
[Month DD]. Beers in Stockholm.
No talks, no slides, nothing to pitch. We bring the beer, you bring whatever is broken.
Sign up
For the beers, the list, or both. Two minutes, nothing binding, nothing published.
My candle is nearly out. Put your name down before it goes.
Good. See you at the beers. I will keep this lit until you go.