The studio · Est. 2017
We make worlds
worth getting lost in.
Horizon Studios is an independent game studio in Los Angeles. We build persistent online worlds, the engine that runs them, and the stories that make them worth returning to.
Twenty people. One engine. Three projects. No crunch.
Los Angeles, CA34.0407° N
118.2343° W
Our story
It started with a server nobody asked for.
In 2017, Kai Lin and Mei Zhao were two friends in a garage in Echo Park with an Unturned server and a shared frustration: the life roleplay servers they loved were full of potential and short on craft. So they built one themselves.
The first version was 32 slots and a map assembled from borrowed assets. But it had something the others did not: a city that felt like it had been places. A storefront that opened. A street that curved for a reason. A community that was treated like adults.
Today, Horizon RP is one of the most popular Unturned servers of all time. The garage is now a studio in the Arts District. The team is twenty people. And the ambition has grown from a single city to an engine, a continent, and a dragon.
“The garage was a starting point. This is a place to build from.”
Timeline
Nine years, one direction.
From a 32-slot server to a 1,000-player engine. The short version.
A garage in Echo Park
Two people, one Unturned server, and a shared belief that a small team could out-build anyone. Horizon Collective is born.
Horizon RP launches
The first server opens with 32 slots and a map that is mostly borrowed. The city starts to grow.
Horizon Studios, LLC
We incorporate. The first custom San Aurelio map ships. VxEngine research begins in the same room.
The city finds its people
Horizon RP crosses 1,000 monthly players. The studio goes full-time. Nobody misses the garage insulation.
The first frame
VxEngine renders its first real-time scene. It is ugly. It is ours. The renderer team is formed.
Night Dragon is pitched
Wei Zhang joins and writes a 46-page pitch. The team grows to twelve. The Dragon Room gets its name.
Greenlit
Project 夜龙 enters pre-production. VxEngine enters beta. The studio commits to a single engine for all future work.
A new home
We move to the Arts District. Night Dragon enters full production. Horizon RP begins its second map rebuild.
Vertical slice
The first playable siege. Combat, territory, and the world simulation run together. VxEngine 0.9 ships internally.
The reveal
VxEngine 1.0 enters production. Horizon RP passes 5,000 monthly players. Project 夜龙 is revealed to the world.
The long night ends
Night Dragon alpha playtests begin, followed by launch on PC. The next chapter starts.
What we believe
Six things we refuse to compromise.
These are not wall posters. They are the rules we use to make decisions, hire, and say no.
Independent by design
No external owners, no quarterly mandate, no pressure to grow for growth's sake. Independence lets us choose the long path when it is the right one.
Craft over velocity
We move quickly, but not carelessly. A door that opens, a car that handles right, a frame that arrives on time — the details are the product.
Players are collaborators
Horizon RP has been shaped by its community for eight years. We read feedback, hire from the community, and treat players as adults.
Sustainability is strategy
No crunch. No heroics that burn people out. We plan around real lives because the alternative is building a studio that cannot last.
Los Angeles is a material
The light, the streets, the mix of glamour and grit. Our city is part of our work, not a pin on an About page.
Own the whole stack
When we needed an engine, we built one. Owning the technology means we can fix the things other teams have to work around.
What comes next
We are building the biggest thing we have ever made.
Project 夜龙 is the reason the studio exists in its current form — a world large enough to hold a thousand stories, built on an engine we own, with a team that has spent nine years learning how to make a place feel alive.
The studio
A small team
with a long view.
We are deliberately small. Twenty people means everyone owns something real, everyone sees the whole picture, and nobody spends their days in meetings about meetings.
We work hybrid: most of the team is in Los Angeles, with a smaller group remote across North America. Four times a year, everyone comes together for a week of collaboration. Twice a year, the whole studio gathers for a build week.
Friday build demos
Every week, every discipline.
No crunch
A planning failure, not a badge.
Profit sharing
Transparent books, shared upside.
Open studio nights
Twice a year, for the community.
LA
Arts District
Arts District
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Open studio nights are announced in the Discord. Come see the space, meet the team, and play the current build.
19M+
Hours played in San Aurelio
40K
Discord members
8
Years of Horizon RP
Careers
Build the next decade with us.
Eight open roles across engine, game, art, and live operations. Remote-friendly. No crunch. Real ownership.