Coffee Stain brewing a fresh pot of change

Since the launch of Goat Simulator in 2014, Coffee Stain has grown a lot, and today consists of Coffee Stain Publishing, Coffee Stain Studios, Coffee Stain North, Lavapotion and Box Dragon. We have invested into a couple of companies, and we work with a lot of different projects. Growing from a team of nine students starting a company together, we are now our own little organization within the Embracer Group with 72 employees. As time goes on, things change, and right now we are heading for some internal changes.

Johannes Aspeby who has been the CEO / Studio head of Coffee Stain Studios, our Skövde office since the acquisition by Embracer in 2018 is stepping down, and in his place Stefan Hanna, one of Coffee Stains original founders will step in. Johannes, who has always had a drive to do new things, will move to work for Coffee Stain Publishing and focus on production as the producer of Songs of Conquest and an unannounced title. Stefan, who has a background as a programmer, is a respected member of the team and knows the culture better than anyone else. 

“My parents have often told me how I started to run before I learnt to walk. And I think that kind of holds true still. I have a hard time staying in the same place for long. I need to do different things all the time. Studying theatre in upper secondary school, worked a long time in the restaurant business, before “settling” on becoming a Swedish teacher which I studied for a couple of years before I realized I wanted to work with games. I learnt programming and that is what I did at Coffee Stain before moving onto a role as producer and finally Studio Manager and CEO. I feel it’s time for me to hand over the reins to someone else, allowing me to focus on the games I want to. Our team in Skövde deserves someone focused on them and Satisfactory.” - Johannes Aspeby

“As Anton mentioned I have been mainly working as a programmer for the last ten years since we started Coffee Stain Studios and I have always had a passion for both making games and doing it in a way that is healthy and fair for everyone involved. I have seen it as my responsibility as a founder of the company to lead by example in respect to this and I'm really excited to be able to now as CEO continue working even more on making this the best game studio it can possibly be. We have an impressive track record so far and it's only the beginning!”  - Stefan Hanna

Coffee Stain Publishing also changes, as Tim Badylak, who was appointed CEO in 2018 is moving on to new ventures. In his place, Albert Säfström, one of the other publishing-founders, is stepping in. Albert has a background in marketing and sales, and worked at King before joining Coffee Stain. Tim has been a great asset for us and made big contributions to the production of Satisfactory, but with Albert in charge, the publishing team is ready to move forward towards new challenges.

“Starting Coffee Stain Publishing together with an amazing team while jumping into Satisfactory’s production has been an absolute adventure. I’ve made friends for life, worked with incredible makers and helped them make their dreams come true. Leaving Coffee Stain is one of the hardest decisions I’ve made but I think it’s the best for Coffee Stain and me. I’ve worked closely with Albert for the last 3,5 years and I’m convinced that he’ll do a great job leading the next chapters. I wish all of Coffee Stain and partners the best.” - Tim Badylak

“Working with games has been my childhood dream, but my road to get here was not straight. Starting in general marketing, I eventually made my way into the gaming scene. Since co-founding Coffee Stain Publishing in 2017, I have worked closely with our friends at Ghost Ship Games, taking their debut title Deep Rock Galactic from alpha to early access and beyond. In becoming the CEO of Coffee Stain Publishing, I have the opportunity to bring that same level of commitment to our internal team and the other games that we’re publishing.“ - Albert Säfström

The current product pipeline of Coffee Stain is awesome and the company has had its best sales quarter so far. This might sound like corporate bullshit, but it’s the truth, and with these changes in the management I think the Coffee Stain organization is stronger than ever.