My name is Finn Keating. I’m a college student based in Rhode Island and I build sports sim games by myself. No team. No publisher. No outside developers. Everything in Hardwood Empire, the engine, the sim logic, the recruiting and portal systems, the live play-by-play, the design, the product, I built all of it.
I launched Hardwood Empire during March Madness 2026 and it hit #1 in App Store Sports and Simulation within 48 hours. I never spent a dollar on marketing. Just the game and the community.
The goal has always been a sim that feels deep without feeling overwhelming. Recruiting that matters, a live game that feels like the real thing in the final minute, and dynasties that hold up across twenty-plus seasons.
It has grown to tens of thousands of players, with a real community on Reddit and Discord, and it keeps getting better based on what players actually ask for.