Who Made Dinoblade? The Jean Nguyen Story

Who made Dinoblade?

Dinoblade was made by Team Spino LLC, the studio of solo developer Jean Nguyen, and published by Boltray Games. It is one of the more striking indie origin stories of the year: a single animator's side project that the internet demanded become a real game.

The viral animation (2022)

In August 2022, Nguyen — a senior gameplay animator at Sucker Punch Productions, the studio behind Ghost of Tsushima — posted a short animation exercise online: a Spinosaurus swinging an enormous greatsword, holding it in its jaws. It was never meant to be a game pitch. It was a portfolio piece.

The clip exploded. The weight and conviction of the animation made "a dinosaur with a sword" feel simultaneously absurd and completely serious, and thousands of people replied with some version of the same request: make this a real game.

From clip to game

Nguyen took the challenge. In 2023 he picked up Unreal Engine 5 and began building Dinoblade in his spare time, alongside his day job at Sucker Punch. That animation pedigree shows everywhere in the finished game — the Spinosaurus's movement, the readable boss wind-ups, and the exaggerated, anime-inspired kill animations all carry the fingerprints of a professional animator rather than a typical first-time programmer.

Demo, wishlists and publisher

A free demo launched in October 2025, covering roughly the first hour — the Dry Canyons route through the Kira, Axe and Kasei boss fights. It earned an "Overwhelmingly Positive" reception and pushed Dinoblade past 500,000 Steam wishlists before release. Singapore-based indie publisher Boltray Games came aboard to handle distribution and publishing duties.

Release

Dinoblade launched on July 23, 2026 for PC on Steam, priced at $19.99 with a 10% launch discount. It hit No. 1 on Steam's Popular Releases chart on day one and holds a Very Positive rating — a remarkable result for a game built largely by one person over four years.

What to read next

• What is Dinoblade? — the game explained
• Release date, price and platforms — launch facts
• Is Dinoblade on PS5? — platform status

We will keep this page updated as Team Spino shares post-launch plans, patches and any word on console versions or DLC.