People Can Fly

People Can Fly is a Polish video game developer headquartered in Warsaw, founded in February 2002 by Adrian Chmielarz. They built their reputation with Painkiller, joined Epic Games in 2007, were rebranded as Epic Games Poland in 2013, then spun back off as an independent studio in 2015. They now operate across eight locations on two continents.

People Can Fly Origin Story

The Early Days and Epic Acquisition

Their debut game Painkiller in 2004 was a successful hardcore first-person shooter that caught Epic’s attention. Epic acquired a majority stake in 2007. Under Epic they developed Bulletstorm in 2011 and Gears of War: Judgment in 2013. The three original founders left in 2012. The studio was rebranded Epic Games Poland in November 2013. In June 2015 it spun back out as independent, retaining the rights to Bulletstorm.

People Can Fly Key Games

Painkiller (2004)

A hardcore arena shooter with no regenerating health, large enemy counts, and fast movement. Established the studio’s reputation for no-nonsense action design.

Bulletstorm (2011)

A creative shooter built around skill kills, using a leash, the environment, and various weapons to eliminate enemies in elaborate ways. Published by EA. Critically well-received but underperformed commercially. People Can Fly retained the rights.

Gears of War: Judgment (2013)

A prequel to the Gears series developed for Epic and Microsoft. Received mixed reviews and is generally considered the weakest entry in the franchise.

Outriders (2021)

People Can Fly’s first fully independent original IP after regaining independence. A third-person co-op shooter RPG set on a dying planet, published by Square Enix. Launched with significant server issues but the underlying game was solid.

Where They Are Now

People Can Fly went public on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in December 2020. In 2024 they cancelled two in-development projects and conducted layoffs. They are currently co-developing Gears of War: E-Day with The Coalition for Microsoft, developing Lost Rift, and have additional unannounced projects in development.