Three years ago, Twin Atlas was founded with the vision of building games that players genuinely love. What started as a small team has grown into a thriving studio with millions of players worldwide, multiple hit titles, and passionate communities.
To celebrate our 3-year anniversary, we sat down with three of our leaders, Alex Hicks - Chief Design Officer, Adam Schneider - Chief Technical Officer, and Samuel Garcia - Chief Executive Officer, to reflect on Twin Atlas' journey so far, the lessons learned along the way, and where the company is headed next.
Q1: Looking back at the previous 3 years, what are you most proud of achieving with Twin Atlas?
[Alex] I’m most proud of how much we’ve grown. We started with a small number of games, and scaling up is really difficult. It’s one thing to have a breakout success on the platform, but building a machine that can do that consistently has taken a lot of work.
[Adam] I’m proud of our work launching and growing Drive World over the last three years, which opened doors with brand partners such as Paramount (Transformers One), Amazon Prime, and e.l.f UP! with IndyCar/NASCAR. I’m also proud of our brand division for bringing excitement back into Roblox platform events and of our team for consistently developing fun, well-designed games in a sea of ‘slop and brainrot.’
[Sam] Being able to build and keep our communities alive and vibrant through over half a decade of content has been one of our biggest accomplishments. Our company has evolved to cater to our most loyal players and turn our top titles into long-lasting experiences that millions of fans will carry with them throughout their lives.
Q2: What was one of the biggest challenges Twin Atlas overcame over its early years, and what did it teach you as a leader?
[Alex] The biggest challenge was learning to trust people as we scaled. When you go from a small team to 10 games and 100 people, you can’t micromanage everything. I had to learn to give people responsibility and trust them to achieve the goals without me bouncing between 10 things a day.
[Adam] Hiring great programmers has been a huge challenge. Each project only has 1–2 engineers, so we need to find talented, experienced developers who’ve been on Roblox their whole lives. It’s tough to test and vet, but when we find them, it’s incredible. The biggest lesson for me was to let go and allow teams the freedom to make mistakes and learn, while still being a role model through my own work ethic and code quality.
[Sam] It was super hard to scale from hobbyist creators into a company building multiple games every year. That process taught not just me, but the whole company, to prioritize fun and empower people to do their best work at every step of the journey.
Q3: How has the company culture evolved over the years, and what values have remained unchanged?
[Alex] We have a lot more structure now, which is necessary for scaling. But one value that hasn’t changed is that we’re a company of gamers building games we want to play ourselves. A lot of companies say that, but here it’s real. Twin Atlas is built by gamers, and that has been consistent since day one.
[Adam] Our culture came from the merging of two different companies (Sonar and RedManta). We give people the freedom to work on their own schedules because we’re all gamers, sometimes that means working late into the night just because we love what we do. We also strive for openness, encouraging different opinions and making sure communities across all our games feel cared for.
[Sam] While our company has grown, the core tenets of what make us successful remain: our teams genuinely enjoy their work, they resonate with the Roblox platform, and we prioritize fun, creativity, and strong connections with our fans.
Q4: As we look towards the future, what’s the biggest goal you have for Twin Atlas over the next three years?
[Alex] Expansion is a big goal, not just in growing player counts, but in exploring other media like TV shows or YouTube channels. We also want to expand into new genres, from sports to casual games, while continuing to support the RPG and creature titles we’re known for.
[Adam] We’ll keep launching awesome new games and running our live operations, but I’d also like Twin Atlas to partner with off-platform studios to bring new and existing IP into Roblox. As more kids grow up on Roblox, introducing them to great games from the wider industry will be really exciting.
[Sam] Our goal is to keep building the best games we can and deliver maximum value to our fans. Over the next three years, we want to apply that philosophy to a transmedia strategy, merchandising, TV, film, so we can meet fans wherever they are and inspire them to be creative themselves.
Q5: What advice would you give to newer team members who want to grow and make an impact here at Twin Atlas?
[Alex] Get really involved with the success of your project. Don’t just finish your tasks and move on, ask how the community received the update, what feedback they had, and how you can improve. That curiosity and passion leads to much better results.
[Adam] Refine your craft. Whether it’s modeling, animating, or programming, there’s always room to get better and new tools come out every week to help. If you can tackle hard tasks and deliver awesome results, there’s no limit to your growth. For me, learning on the Roblox forums by fixing other people’s code gave me the foundation I needed to improve, and that spirit of community and shared growth is key.
[Sam] Build what you want to play. The best moments in gaming come from shared experiences, like that chill when the boss music drops. Your job as a creator is to make those magic moments for players and inspire the next generation to do the same.
Twin Atlas’ first three years have been defined by growth, creativity, and a relentless focus on building games that players love. From scaling challenges to bold new opportunities in transmedia, our leadership team is excited for what the next three years will bring.
Thank you to our employees, our partners, our communities, and most importantly, you all, for making this journey possible! Here’s to the next chapter of Twin Atlas!
