Expanding the Rooted Team After Alpha Phase 2

Learn how Rooted is expanding its development team following Alpha Phase 2, thanks to insights gained from Backrooms: Extractions, with exciting new Rooted features coming in September 2025!

All the news > Expanding the Rooted Team After Alpha Phase 2

Published on Jul 16, 2025

Following the release of Rooted’s Alpha Phase 2 in January 2025, it became essential to find ways to expand our development team. Our survival game is supported by an incredible community that deserves the absolute best we can deliver, making recruitment a top priority.

A Game to Support Rooted’s Development

I'm delighted to announce our team has grown with the addition of Kevin, an experienced gameplay developer specialized in networking. The team is already hard at work on new Rooted features, scheduled for release in the public build starting September 2025!

(Check out this article I wrote in May for more details on upcoming content: What's Coming in the Next Major Update)

To fund the studio's growth, I leveraged what we do best: creating games.

On April 30, 2025, Headlight Studio launched a side project developed in just four months (a genuine challenge!) called Backrooms: Extractions on Steam.

Two months later, with over 30,000 copies sold, we've successfully met our goal. Every new Backrooms: Extractions player helps us build a stronger development team.

Curious? Check out the game on Steam! 

Backrooms: Extractions as a Testbed for Rooted

Beyond its financial impact, this side project allows us to test features in a smaller-scale environment before introducing them to Rooted. We iterate rapidly, collect valuable player feedback, refine and enhance features, ensuring quality before implementing them into our primary project. 

Some examples:

  • Entities in Backrooms allow us to test AI behaviors under real conditions, tackling all the complexities that come with network integration. This will directly benefit the introduction of AI in Rooted’s Alpha Phase 3.
  • VOIP functionality is currently undergoing tests and is fully operational. We're also actively testing and refining network behaviors to ensure robust multiplayer experiences.
  • We're exploring new tools for UI creation, which will significantly impact Rooted, because let's face it, our current UI could definitely use some love!

Many more features are being developed and tested. Additionally, we plan to launch Backrooms: Extractions on PlayStation, a valuable experience that will pave the way for Rooted on consoles in the future. 

Upcoming Updates for Rooted!

We are excited to bring the next updates to Rooted's public Alpha build starting in September. Here's a quick reminder of the features we're actively developing:

Stay tuned for more updates on Rooted’s upcoming features!

Mat, Headlight Studio.