Adult Swim Games (stylized as dult swim games'') is the video game publishing division of the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

brand of

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

. While Adult Swim had been publishing games since 2005, primarily based on their in-house franchises. In 2011, it became an official publisher of original

indie game An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...

s. The publishing division has been praised by critics for the originality and quality of its games.

History

Early history (2005–2010)

Adult Swim partnered with

Midway Games Midway Games Inc., known previously as Midway Manufacturing and Bally Midway, and commonly known as simply Midway, was an American video game developer and publisher. Midway's franchises included ''Mortal Kombat'', '' Rampage'', '' Spy Hunter'' ...

in 2005 to begin development on

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

s based on ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast to the original ...

'', ''The Brak Show'' and ''

Sealab 2021 ''Sealab 2021'' is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before ...

''. The game based on ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am'' is a video game based on the Adult Swim animated television series, ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. It is a hybrid kart racing/fighting/golf game that takes place on several New Jersey golf courses. It was ...

,'' was released on November 5, 2007, for

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on ...

. The game is a golf game with fighting and racing levels. A video game based on '' Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law'' has been released by Capcom for

, PlayStation Portable and Wii on January 8, 2008. Various third-party

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

-based games, such as '' Robot Unicorn Attack'' and the ''Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself)'' series, were once available for free play on the Adult Swim website, but have been removed from the site in 2020, due to the discontinuation of Flash Player. Adult Swim have also published a number of iPhone,

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...

, and Android games, including ''Robot Unicorn Attack 1 & 2'', ''Amateur Surgeon'', ''Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself): Wedding Day'', and '' Pocket Mortys''. In December 2012,

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...

announced costumes for the online first person shooter ''

Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' mod for '' Quake'' and its 1999 remake, '' Team Fortress Classic''. The game was ...

'' based on Adult Swim characters. The video game '' Saints Row: The Third'' features an in game "radio station", which shuffles a collection of songs that were featured on Adult Swim shows and was hosted by Jon from Adult Swim show '' Delocated''. The video game '' Poker Night 2'' features Brock Samson from ''

The Venture Bros. ''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on February 16, 200 ...

'' as a main character.

Adult Swim Games (2011–present)

In 2011, Adult Swim hired Steve Gee to run their games division, in an effort to find original content that fit the brand of Adult Swim - described as "bizarre and absurd humor". This effort was inspired by the financial success of earlier mobile games such as ''Robot Unicorn Attack'' and ''Amateur Surgeon''. The publisher began to seek out new indie games to partner with and publish, in an effort to provide a platform for indie games. On February 15, 2013, Adult Swim published ''Super House of Dead Ninjas'' on Steam under their Adult Swim Games publishing label. Adult Swim Games continued to publish select indie games on Steam, including ''Super Puzzle Platformer Deluxe'', ''Völgarr the Viking'', ''Kingsway'', '' Rain World'', '' Jazzpunk'' and '' Duck Game''. On May 22, 2018, Adult Swim acquired their first video game development, Big Pixel Studios, the development studio behind '' Pocket Mortys''. The studio would later close at the end of 2020 following WarnerMedia's decision to restruct the division. In 2020, the studio would release '' Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time'', meant to serve as a conclusion to

the series ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

References

{{Reflist Video game publishers