We build software as well as managing its development. Some of it is our own products, some is built for clients, and some is a proof of concept for a funded programme. Insurgent Studios is based in Edinburgh.
What we build
- Mobile apps. For Android and iOS.
- Desktop software. Cross-platform tools for Windows, macOS and Linux.
- Prototypes and demonstrators. A working version of an idea, including the hardware where it needs some, built to test it or to support a proposal.
- Games. For mobile and the web, described under games development.
- Infrastructure. Source control, remote access, and the build and release systems a development team relies on.
Software we have built
Our own products are the easiest to show. Much of what we build for clients is confidential, so the client work here is a small part of it.
SoniQueue. Our alternative Sonos controller app for Android, released in December 2025. It connects to speakers over the local network, with no advertising or tracking.
Depot Desk. Our cross-platform Git interface for teams working with large assets that are difficult to merge, running on Windows, macOS and Linux. It is in closed alpha, with early users helping us refine it.
GiftGuard. A working proof-of-concept demonstrator, designed and built in-house: a countertop unit that could scan a gift card, check its balance, activate it and redeem value against it, using a public blockchain ledger.
Mobile and web games. Games for iOS and Facebook, developed with analytics to show how people use them and improved in successive rounds. On Audi A1 Beat Driver, an Audi-branded music game for iPhone, we provided technical and project management oversight.
Infrastructure teams depend on
Since 2020 we have managed infrastructure for several clients — the systems their staff rely on to do their work, rather than the products those teams ship. That has meant moving source control and remote access off on-site servers into AWS, reached over a VPN from wherever people are working, and specifying, building and maintaining bespoke continuous integration servers that produce product builds and handle releases, including uploads to Steam.
That kind of work goes back further. In 2016 we set up the Mac and Linux build processes for Blazing Griffin’s The Ship: Remasted and reported on what each platform would need.
The source control and build systems both became critical infrastructure for their clients, and the ongoing maintenance is the larger part of the engagement: keeping systems dependable over years, rather than handing over a project and moving on. The same interest in the tools teams actually work with produced Depot Desk.
How we work
Much of this work started with something that worked: a demonstrator for GiftGuard, a closed alpha for Depot Desk, analytics on a live game. Each round of changes follows from what that shows. Where the work is for a client, we stay accountable for what is delivered, and for keeping it running afterwards if that is what is needed.
If you have software you need built, tell us about it. Our other services are described separately.