People Can Fly

About

People Can Fly is a Polish development house known for creating the Painkiller series and their work with Epic Games.

People Can Fly is a studio based in Warsaw, Poland. In 2002 Adrian Chmielarz left Metropolis to create a development team with a bigger reach. Creator of titles such as Teenagent and Gorky 17, he set up a team of about 40 people and started working on a new title. A few months later, the work of People Can Fly was appreciated by Canadian publisher, Dreamcatcher Interactive who worked with them on Painkiller, which was released two years after the companies first met. Painkiller was ported to the Xbox in July 2006, titled Painkiller: Hell Wars. Painkiller enjoyed renewed interest in May 2008 after infamous game critic Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw posted a Painkiller retrospective video review which specifically made note of the Electro-driver weapon, a gun that shoots both shurikens and lightning.

In 2007, after an unsuccessful relationship with THQ, People Can Fly was appointed by Epic Games as a developer for the PC version of Gears of War. From that point, Epic Games bought a majority stake of the Polish developer's shares.

People Can Fly and Epic Games developed Bulletstorm as part of the EA Partners Program. Bulletstorm, like Painkiller, was an over-the-top first person shooter. The game became known for its outrageous "skillshot" mechanic and purposely vulgar marketing. It was released for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in February 2011.

At E3 2012, it was announced that People Can Fly were working on a a prequel to the Gears of War series: Gears of War: Judgment. The teaser trailer revealed that the story will be told from the perspective of Damon Baird rather than Marcus Fenix.

In August 2012, Adrian Chmielarz, and two other founders - Andrzej Poznański and Michał Kosieradzki left the studio. Epic Games bought remaining shares of the company.

In June 2015, the company announced that it had completed a buyout of Epic's interest in the studio, reverting the developer to its original name and independant status. Rights to Bulletstorm also stayed with the studio in this transaction, leaving PCF free to pursue a sequel, if desired.