No surprise, Marvel Studios always draws the most attention attention after its Saturday San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel announcements and this year was no exception.
Those who stayed in their seats for filmmaker Kevin Smith’s annual night panel right afterward were treated to the announcement of Jay and Silent Bob’s Joint Venture, an adult cozy farm sim that offers fans an opportunity to engage with and play as Smith’s beloved cult classic characters within the digital realm.
Joint Venture marks the first venture into digital publishing and niche IP development for indie video game company Nitrate Games. Check out the trailer and full press release details below:
Independent video game company Nitrate Games enters the realm of digital publishing and niche IP development with the announcement of Jay and Silent Bob’s Joint Venture, an adult cozy farm sim that offers fans an opportunity to engage with and play as filmmaker Kevin Smith’s beloved cult classic characters within the digital realm. The announcement was made during Smith’s annual Saturday night Hall H panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego.
The game provides a raunchy new take on a cozy farming game – if those crops were akin to Jay and Silent Bob’s specific cultural tastes. Heading toward its beta testing phase of production, the game is expected to be released in late Spring 2027 on Steam/PC.
Players will build, cultivate, and expand their operation, interact with familiar faces, and experience an original story featuring Kevin Smith’s iconic characters.
“Since Jay and Silent Bob are the stars of this hilarious growing game, I cannot wait to play with myself! Many thanks to Nitrate Games for taking my little animals to this crossing and making them Stars Dew a Valley!”
Nitrate Games is the brainchild of Daniel Kendrick, Montana Sommese and Nick Madonna. Co-Founder & CEO Kendrick previously ran IDW Entertainment, working on films & games for properties like Locke & Key, Wynonna Earp, 30 Days of Night, Godzilla, Sonic the Hedgehog and 250 other titles. He was the co-executive producer of last year’s breakthrough hit Batman Azteca for Warner Bros. Animation. Sommese, Nitrate’s Co-Founder, has served more than 15 years at the intersection of Hollywood and gaming, specializing in adapting premier IP for the next generation of players and delivering dozens of experiences for industry titans like Warner Bros. and Fox. Serving as Nitrate’s Head of Development, Madonna boasts more than 20 years of experience working on game titles for Saber Interactive, Square Enix, & Vivendi Universal. Madonna also runs PHL Collective, a leading licensed entertainment developer delivering award-winning titles for world-class IPs like Star Wars, Justice League and SpongeBob SquarePants.
Nitrate’s creative triumvirate has launched their business by following a philosophy of applying comic book sensibilities and strategies to indie video games, utilizing niche licenses of popular titles and cult classics like Smith’s Jay & Silent Bob and the 1978 surprise hit Attack of Killer Tomatoes. The publisher has been actively acquiring some wildly entertaining titles across licensed and original IP, with more titles to be announced in the near future.
“Our core mission is to make games that we wish existed when we were kids,” says Kendrick. “We’re an independent game publisher with an eye toward creating unexpected takes on unique, beloved properties.”
Chase Marotz, who has worked on such popular titles as Star Trek and Dungeons & Dragons for IDW Publishing, and as Lead Narrative Director for Gameloft’s New York studio, shipped 40+ titles, including collaborations with Marvel, Disney and NBCUniversal, is the creative director on Jay & Silent Bob’s Joint Venture.
Celebrated live-action and animation scribe Ernie Altbacker (Batman: Hush, Justice League Dark) is the game’s writer.
Both Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes have been involved from the start, shepherding the creative vision.
“We set out to build Nitrate Games as the pop culture company of the future,” Kendrick says. “Audiences want to step inside the worlds they love; to emotionally engage with them, change them, break the fourth wall. That’s why Montana, Nick and I built Nitrate Games: to be the indie publisher where beloved and new brands become something you don’t just watch, but live. Nitrate Games exists for fans hungry for stories and entertainment that transcend formats and platforms.”
Other key members of the Nitrate Games team include:
-
- Deepak Nair (Vice President of Growth & Publishing Strategy), who has helped structure creator ecosystems for some of the world’s largest UGC platforms, including Roblox, Epic Games, and Meta. Nair was the founding Developer Relations lead for Fortnite Creative at Epic Games, a foundational member of Roblox’s DevRel team, and most recently drove platform advocacy for Meta Horizon across creator tools, mobile, XR, and monetization.
- Jeff Whitlock (Vice President of Digital Marketing & Advertising), who brings more than two decades of digital production and user experience in consumer products, mobile applications, research and creative workshops. Whitlock has unmatched enthusiasm for turning ideas into reality and solving complex business problems with brands such as Adobe, Google, Meta, Nike, Volkswagen, Doritos and HBO.
Players can learn more and sign up to playtest and wishlist.
To sign up and claim a Comic-Con exclusive in-game costume, visit https://joint-venture.firstlook.gg/signup/joint-venture
To join Wishlist on Steam, visit https://store.steampowered.com/app/4902580/Jay_and_Silent_Bobs_Joint_Venture/
Stay tuned to The Beat for more news from SDCC ’26.
