Jon McKellan and Omar Khan were not originally game developers but members of a band called Futuro, a fact that shaped the collaborative DNA of their studio. Before they ever wrote a line of code for a video game, they were performing music together, with Jon's brother Graeme serving as the band's designer. This musical background influenced their approach to storytelling, treating game development as a form of performance rather than just technical execution. The studio began as No Code Limited on the 19th of August 2015, born from a desire to work with smaller teams after Jon had directed the downloadable content packs for Alien: Isolation. They started by porting an iOS game called Lub vs Dub to Android, a project that carried the name Futuro, the same name as their band. This early work laid the foundation for a studio that prioritized creative freedom over corporate structure, allowing them to experiment with unconventional game formats that would later define their career.
The Weekend That Changed Everything
In the span of just 64 hours, a team of three created a game that would become a viral sensation and launch their reputation in the industry. The House Abandon was built for the Ludum Dare 36 game jam, a competition where developers have 48 to 72 hours to create a game from scratch. Jon McKellan recalled the frantic pace, noting that they submitted the final game with only 15 seconds to spare before the deadline. The game, which was originally a short horror experience, received positive reviews and quickly gained a following on itch.io. This success caught the attention of Devolver Digital, a publisher known for supporting indie developers, who then signed No Code to publish Stories Untold. The House Abandon became the first chapter of what would eventually become the full game Stories Untold, a project that blended horror, mystery, and interactive fiction in a way that had not been seen before. The speed and creativity of the game jam experience proved that No Code could deliver high-quality content under extreme pressure, setting the stage for their future projects.A Sci-Fi Thriller That Defied Expectations
Observation, released in 2019, was a sci-fi thriller that redefined the genre by placing the player in the role of a surveillance system rather than a human character. The game was developed in partnership with PlayStation and published by Devolver Digital, marking a significant step up from their earlier indie projects. The narrative followed a lone astronaut on a space station as she monitored the crew through cameras, uncovering a conspiracy that threatened the mission. The game received critical acclaim, winning the Best Game BAFTA in Scotland and the Best British Game at the 2020 BAFTA Game Awards. Its unique gameplay mechanics, which required the player to interact with the environment through a series of surveillance feeds, created a sense of isolation and tension that resonated with players and critics alike. The success of Observation solidified No Code's reputation as a studio capable of delivering complex, emotionally resonant experiences that pushed the boundaries of what video games could achieve.