Free Lives (2012)
The South African Indie Mavericks Behind Broforce and Ecological Masterpiece Terra Nil
Founded in 2012 in a communal farmhouse near Cape Town by Evan Greenwood, Free Lives is South Africa's most acclaimed modern independent development studio. Renowned for their hyper-kinetic 1980s action satire Broforce, visceral VR gladiatorial fighter GORN, and ecological reverse-city builder Terra Nil, the studio forged an iconic creative partnership with publisher Devolver Digital.
Broforce: Fully Destructible Action Parody
Born out of a 2012 Ludum Dare game jam, Broforce satirized over-the-top 1980s American action cinema by letting players control voxel-pulverizing parodies of cultural icons like Rambro, Brominator, and Ellen Ripbro. Featuring completely destructible terrain and frenetic co-op multiplayer, it achieved massive viral popularity and spawned the official movie tie-in The Expendabros.
Terra Nil: Subverting City Builders for Ecological Renewal
Demonstrating astonishing thematic range, Free Lives developed Terra Nil in 2023, a soothing 'reverse city-builder' tasking players with purifying desolate post-apocalyptic wastelands into thriving biomes before recycling all human machinery and leaving no trace. Free Lives donates a percentage of its profits to Endangered Wildlife Trust conservation reserves in South Africa.