INSTINCT3 establishes indie games publisher Sidekick Publishing

Berlin-based creative agency INSTINCT3 has announced the establishment of Sidekick Publishing, a full-service publisher for indie, A, and AA game studios.

The publisher aims to “fill a gap in the competitive publishing landscape,” leveraging its global publishing expertise with INSTINCT3’s creator-led marketing and community building expertise.

The new venture is led by industry veterans Jasmin Oestreicher and Melvin Frank.

“After ten years in publishing and marketing and the past four years at our agency, serving as managing director since 2024, I know how valuable experience can be,” said INSTINCT3 CEO and Sidekick Publishing co-CEO and co-founder Jasmin Oestreicher in a press release. “But I also know how quickly you can lose touch if you rely too much on the past. Especially with a gaming audience that is highly sensitive to inauthentic or overly commercial content, what matters are bold ideas, local sensitivity, and creators who work for lasting impact, not just quick profit.”

Sidekick Publishing co-CEO and co-founder Melvin Frank added, “Over the past year, we’ve worked on a variety of releases—each one teaching us something new about what works, what connects, and what lasts for our concept. Sidekick is our way of taking all those lessons, combining them with our unique creator and community expertise, and raising the bar for how we support indie developers. The goals are simple: focus on games that resonate well with our approach and make every next launch our best one yet.”

The first game slated for release under the Sidekick Publishing brand will be 2.5D pixel zombie apocalypse roguelike action game Deadly Days: Roadtrip from developer Pixelsplit, which is due out for PC via Steam in 2025.