GrepBeat last wrote about Six Wing Studios back in 2020. Six Wing Studios is a Raleigh-based startup that designs video games meant to double as exercises in mindfulness and self-care. They released an award-winning mobile game titled Amaru: The Self-care Virtual Pet in 2020.
For this piece, we caught up with CEO, Game Designer, and Creative Director Gabe Pappalardo to learn about the effectiveness of the game, how Six Wing weathered an out-of-nowhere storm, and what’s next for Amaru.
GrepBeat: Before we get started, for readers who may not be familiar, what’s the elevator pitch for Six Wing Studios?
Gabe Pappalardo: Six Wing Studios, Inc. is a Raleigh-based media company best known for creating empowering experiences around the topic of mental health. In 2020, Six Wing Studios released Amaru: The Self-care Virtual Pet, a Unity-award winning mobile game which can be thought of as “Duolingo for self-care practice” [and] which was found in an external university study to reduce anxiety and depression in its players at clinically meaningful levels.
GB: When we got in touch, we asked you to look back on the last time we checked in, way back in 2020. When you look back at that article, what are some of the major changes that stand out?
Pappalardo: So many things! At the time of the 2020 article, our flagship game, Amaru: The Self-care Virtual Pet was still in beta and going by another name: The Fog of Maya: Lotus Village. We also were fresh off a successful Kickstarter for the game and were semi-finalists for the NC IDEA SEED grant. We went on to win that grant, and that win attracted some angel investment.
We were able to bring Amaru to market and grew it to 1M downloads on the App Store and Google Play. We received some amazing feedback along the way. The game holds a 4.8/5.0 rating on the storefronts; players told us the game was brightening their lives, even helping some break habits of self-harm and suicidal ideation. Beyond the anecdotes, a fan named Dr. Sarah Gann did their doctorate on the effectiveness of the game and found that playing it reduced anxiety and depression at clinically-meaningful levels.
The combination of player love and measurable impact around Amaru got us a nomination for Best Social Impact Project at the 2024 Unity Game Awards, and we won the award the following year.
In sum, we went from a team with no experience and a beta to being an Award-winning studio with an impactful product in the market. Today, I’m working to raise funds to create an expanded remake of Amaru, titled Amaru: Reimagined to further scale our reach, impact, and revenue
GB: How has your team grown or evolved since we last spoke?
Pappalardo: In 2020, we were four-strong, and we grew to about eight at our peak. I played creative director, game designer, and producer. We had three developers, two artists, a QA, and a community manager. We unfortunately faced an existential challenge with iOS 14.5, an update that unplugged our Meta-ads-dependent business model overnight. Amaru was out there and could grow a bit organically, but with marketing costs having increased 7x from the update compared to when we launched, we no longer had a path to scale, and we didn’t have the knowledge or capital to solve the problem.
We pivoted to consulting, working with companies like Integrated Reality Labs and Meaningfull Games, and that softened our landing, but ultimately everyone was laid off, including myself.
However, our game is still alive and our community still loves us and wants more from us. I launched a small Kickstarter campaign this past week to lay the groundwork for new games, and the community took us to 80% of our funding goal in [under] 48 hours. I’ve discovered a new user-acquisition strategy and am raising capital to put it in place behind the game. We’re strong contenders for a $100,000 grant from Unity, and I have angel investors lined up to match the grant funds if they come through.
We’re all eager to get back to work. We’ve got the team. We’ve got the plan. Now we just need the funds to execute.
GB: Have there been any recent milestones or accomplishments you’re particularly proud of?
Pappalardo: Every time I receive a review from a user that states the game has helped them stop self-harming, that means a lot to me. Dr. Gann’s study… gave me a feeling of “Mission: Accomplished.” Even with our current capital problem, we managed to achieve the social impact we set out for with this work, and with the new user-acquisition strategy… I think scaling the reach of that impact 20x is just a matter of time.
On a personal note, I was over the moon when a member of our online community showed that she had gotten a tattoo of Amaru on her arm. It blew my mind! As a gamer who has always appreciated catching a Legend of Zelda or Pokémon tattoo in the wild, seeing that a fan would put our little guy as a work of art on her body really affirmed for me that we’ve made something special. It was a “we made it.” feeling.
GB: You’ve been on the scene for a little while now. People may know you as a founder, but perhaps less so as a human being. Tell us something we don’t know about you that has nothing to do with your life as a founder.
Pappalardo: I have entirely too many hobbies. I got a yoga teacher certification some time ago and I still regularly practice yoga and acro-yoga. I juggle fire. I dabble on the piano. I bake bread. I garden. I was a Muay Thai kickboxer until an injury recently took me out of the sport. And I do Improv Comedy. I used to perform with ComedyWorx here in Raleigh, and now you can catch me at the occasional jam.
GB: What partners or organizations (service providers, advisors, investors, if any) have been most helpful to you?
Pappalardo: Huge shoutout to NC IDEA. What an incredible organization. Their grant was a spark that took us so far, and they’ve always been incredibly generous with their time and introductions. I can’t thank them nor recommend them enough. Protect and support NC IDEA at all costs!
GB: What is your next, biggest challenge?
Pappalardo: Getting us the funding to get back to work. I believe we’re $300k away from being in a position to earn $22M in revenue over the next five years.
[We’re going to put the new user acquisition strategy] behind our expanded remake, Amaru: Reimagined. This will get us back to scalability in the post iOS-14.5 marketing landscape. We know we’ve got a game that people love and a community that wants more, and the core team is eager to get back in the ring for another round. If we land the Unity grant and onboard the matching angel funds, you’re going to be hearing about our “overnight success” (that was six years in the making) really soon!
GB: If you could go back in time to speak to yourself on the day you founded your startup, what advice would you give your younger self?
Pappalardo: “It’s not real until it’s in the bank.” Unfortunately, we’ve had major financial commitments to us broken on more than one occasion. Having your runway shorten by a quarter unexpectedly is not a good feeling. So it’s not even signed papers that matter. It’s dollars in the bank.
GB: Finally, you finish a long, grueling day of starting up. You’re hungry and/or thirsty. Where in the Triangle are you headed?
Pappalardo: Nothing would still be open by the time I’m done, so let’s talk the following morning! Coffee is my comfort beverage, so catch me at Foxhole or Morning Times in Downtown Raleigh. I’m also a sucker for a weekend hashbrown waffle from Press, and if I find myself in the Bull City, I can’t get only one sandwich if I’m by Ideal’s.
