An experimental RPG studio is offering players a stake in the company — and the studio says it’s doing so to mend the trust broken in the industry a thousand times over.
Summer Eternal, founded by ex-ZA/UM designers Argo Tuulik and Dora Klindžić, along with developer and organizer Aleksandar Gavrilović, is giving away 5% of its studio to players. The move comes with the studio’s stated aim of making its governance structure reflect all the people involved in its work.
“As opposed to shareholding structures we’re all used to, the Summer Eternal governance model is slightly different, and based on the FairShares idea that the structure of the studio should reflect all the stakeholders of the studio,” Gavrilović explained. That includes the managing cooperative, the contributor cooperative with employees and freelancers, the investors — and players too.
Players as Stakeholders
The studio is proposing a structure that puts players alongside workers and investors in the decision-making process. Rather than treating players as customers who buy a game and walk away, Summer Eternal wants them to have a say in the studio’s direction.
“Usually, consumer cooperatives are organisations where consumers own the enterprise they buy from, but in our case, we opted for the consumers to be in a non-profit organisation instead, meaning the players do not extract profit for themselves, but they can choose where the organisation’s income is invested,” the studio writes.
The key difference is that players don’t get a cut of the profits directly. Instead, they get a democratic say over where those profits go. The studio describes it as a step toward mending trust broken in the industry a thousand times over.
The People Behind the Studio
Tuulik and Klindžić were behind the cancelled Disco Elysium expansion, which may explain why they want to try something radically different for their new studio’s financing and governance. The expansion’s cancellation was a notable setback for the duo, and it appears to have shaped their approach to building Summer Eternal from scratch.
Gavrilović is the developer and organizer who spoke about the governance model. His posts on the studio’s website lay out the full details of the profit-directing player non-profit.
What Players Get
The 5% stake isn’t just a symbolic gesture. Players who become members of the player cooperative get a share of the studio’s profits, which they can direct toward specific projects or priorities through the non-profit structure.
The studio is not offering “walkin’ around money” to players. Instead, it’s giving them a seat at the table — and a share of the proceeds.
A Book Before the Game
Summer Eternal’s first product isn’t a game. It’s a book.
The Summer Eternal Anthology Vol. 1 is a hybrid release: half essay collection, half design document. The essay section gathers pieces on the state of games and the industry, with guest writers and interviewees including Dragon Age scribe David Gaider and former Greek finance minister and Valve economist Yanis Varoufakis.
The other half of the book previews and formally announces Summer Eternal’s first game, Project Red Rooster. At the time of writing, the Anthology is available for preorder for one more day.
The book serves as a statement of intent. By releasing a collection of essays and a design document alongside each other, the studio is showing its commitment to transparency and discussion before the game even exists.
Why This Matters Now
At a time when traditionally governed, publicly-traded games companies are cannibalizing themselves before our eyes to fulfill a fiduciary duty to their shareholders, Summer Eternal’s proposal feels economically and politically radical.
The studio is betting that players will respond to a structure that treats them as partners rather than customers. It’s a bold move, and it could reshape how players think about the relationship between studios and the people who play their games.
The Road Ahead
The Anthology is the first step. Preordering the book is the way to get in on the ground floor, though the source does not specify exactly how that works.
What’s clear is the direction. Summer Eternal wants players to have a real role in shaping the future of the studio — not just as customers, but as owners with a say.
Whether this model works at scale remains to be seen. But the fact that a studio is willing to put its money where its mouth is — and let players choose where some of it goes — is a refreshing change of pace.
What to Watch For
The key questions to watch:
- How the player cooperative actually functions in practice
- Whether the non-profit structure delivers on its promise of directing income transparently
- Whether other studios follow this model
Summer Eternal is betting that players want more than a game. They want a stake in the process.
Source material: “Experimental RPG developer Summer Eternal: 'We're giving away 5% of our studio to you, the Players' in order to 'mend the trust broken in this industry a thousand times over',” PC Gamer.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.