Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender: Ethical Contracts and a Hard No on AI—But Is It Sustainable?

Tim Bender isn’t chasing profits—he’s building a 100-year-old indie publisher, one ethical contract and AI-free pixel at a time.

Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender describes traditional publishing contracts as fundamentally flawed: “The ways in which [game] publishing contracts are generally written violate a lot of principles of what’s an efficient contract.” His studio offers 65% revenue share and no recoup terms, shifting risk to publishers who, he argues, are best positioned to handle it.

Bender is equally firm on generative AI: “I fucking hate gen AI art.” Hooded Horse refuses to publish games using AI-generated assets, citing player sentiment: “Players don’t, by and large, want gen AI.” The studio retains 67% ownership of its shares to avoid public listing, prioritizing stability over short-term gains.

Contrast this with Fragbite’s recent sale of Playdigious to buy Bitcoin—a move highlighting divergent indie publishing strategies. Bender’s goal? “To be a positive influence and a great company for 100 plus years.”