Panic Inc

Source From Wikipedia English.

Panic Inc. is an American software and video game company based in Portland, Oregon. The company specializes in macOS and iOS applications and began publishing video games in 2016.

Panic Inc.
Company typePrivate
Industry
Founded1997; 27 years ago (1997)
FoundersSteven Frank
Cabel Sasser
HeadquartersPortland, Oregon, U.S.
Key people
Steven Frank
Cabel Sasser
ProductsTransmit, Coda, Playdate
Websitepanic.com

Panic was founded by Steven Frank and Cabel Sasser.

Products

Software

Panic is known for their flagship app Transmit, as well as their Audion media player, Unison usenet client, and Nova code editor (a successor to their web development app Coda). The company has won multiple Apple Design Awards for their products.

In 1999, Audion was introduced as a skinnable MP3 media player. One of its competitors, SoundJam MP, was acquired by Apple in 2000 and was further developed into iTunes 1.0, which became available in 2001. Panic retired Audion in 2004 and began distributing it free of charge.

After Audion, Panic focused development on two other software applications. In 2004, they released Unison, a Usenet reader, and Stattoo, a tool that shows "digital statistics" overlayed on the Mac OS X desktop wallpaper. In 2007, the web development application Coda was introduced. In 2019, Panic announced a successor to Coda named Nova.

App Platform Type Ref.
Active development
Transmit macOS FTP client
Nova macOS Web development
Prompt iOS Command line
Panic Pals iOS iMessage stickers
Playdate Sticker Pack iOS iMessage stickers
Discontinued
Code Editor iOS Web development
Audion macOS Music player
CandyBar macOS Icon customization
Coda macOS Web development
Desktastic macOS Desktop annotation
Stattoo macOS Computer statistics
Status Board iOS Information display
Transmit iOS FTP client
Unison macOS Usenet client

Video games

The company published their first video game, Firewatch, on February 9, 2016. Panic published their second game, Untitled Goose Game, on September 20, 2019.

Title Platform(s) Developer Release date Ref.
Firewatch PC (Windows, macOS, Linux), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch Campo Santo February 9, 2016
Untitled Goose Game PC (Windows, macOS), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch House House September 20, 2019
Nour: Play with Your Food PC (Windows, macOS), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 Terrifying Jellyfish September 12, 2023
Despelote PC (Windows), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena 2024
Thank Goodness You're Here! PC (Windows), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch Coal Supper 2024
Arco PC (Windows) Franek Nowotniak, Max Cahill, José Ramón “Bibiki” García, Antonio “Fáyer” Uribe 2024
Time Flies PC (Windows), PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch Playables 2024
Big Walk PC (Windows, macOS) House House 2025

Playdate

On May 22, 2019, Panic unveiled Playdate, a handheld gaming device, designed by Panic in collaboration with the Swedish firm Teenage Engineering. The device features a 400x240 pixel 1-bit screen, a directional pad on the left, two buttons on the right, and a mechanical crank on the right edge of the device.

Games will be released in "seasons", at a rate of two games per week for twelve weeks. Games will automatically download to the device when available. While some video games for Playdate are being produced at Panic, most games are created by indie game developers such as Keita Takahashi, Zach Gage, Bennett Foddy, and Shaun Inman.

Awards

Year App Award Category Result Ref.
2003 Transmit 2 Apple Design Awards Best Mac OS X User Experience Runner-up
2004 Unison 1.0.2a Apple Design Awards Best Mac OS X Product Runner-up
2004 Unison 1.0.2a Apple Design Awards Best Mac OS X User Experience Won
2005 Transmit 3 MacWorld MacWorld Best of Show Won
2005 Transmit 3.2 Apple Design Awards Best Mac OS X Tiger Technology Adoption Won
2007 Coda 1 Apple Design Awards Best Mac OS X User Experience Won
2013 Coda 2 Apple Design Awards Mac OS X Won
2021 Nova Apple Design Awards Interaction Nominated

References