The studio
Who made Mixtape?
Mixtape was developed by Beethoven & Dinosaur, an independent studio based in Melbourne, Australia, and published by Annapurna Interactive. If you came here asking who made Mixtape, that is the short answer — the longer one explains why this particular team was the right one to build a three-hour game in which the soundtrack is the story.
Beethoven & Dinosaur is small, music-obsessed, and deliberate to a fault: Mixtape is only their second game in nearly a decade. Both of their releases treat a licensed soundtrack as the spine of the experience rather than the wallpaper behind it — an instinct that traces straight back to the person who founded the studio.
The founder
Johnny Galvatron — from punk frontman to game director
The studio was founded in 2017 by Johnny Galvatron, who arrived at games from music: before making them, he fronted the Australian punk-rock band The Galvatrons. That history is not trivia — it is the studio's whole method. Galvatron writes and directs around music first, then builds the game outward from the feeling of a song.
It is why both of the studio's games are, at their core, about music as memory — the way a single track can pin you to one specific night, one specific person, one version of yourself you cannot get back. That thread is exactly what connects the studio's debut to Mixtape.
Their first game
The Artful Escape (2021)
Beethoven & Dinosaur made their name with The Artful Escape, released on 9 September 2021. It is a psychedelic musical platformer about a teenage guitar prodigy inventing a cosmic stage persona on the eve of his first performance — visually maximalist, scored like a stadium-rock fantasy, and openly indebted to David Bowie and Ziggy Stardust.
It won the 2022 BAFTA Games Award for Artistic Achievement and was nominated for Audio Achievement and Best Debut Game. For anyone weighing whether Mixtape is worth their time, that pedigree is the clearest signal of what to expect: a studio that has already proven art direction, music and pure feeling can carry an entire game.
Their new game
Mixtape (2026)
Mixtape launched on 7 May 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2 — and arrived day one on Xbox Game Pass. It follows Stacy Rockford and her two closest friends through their last night together before everyone scatters, told across roughly three hours and built around 28 licensed songs from DEVO, Roxy Music, The Cure, Joy Division, Iggy Pop, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Smashing Pumpkins and more.
Where most narrative games drop a soundtrack on top of finished scenes, Mixtape organises its 30 chapters around what is playing — the song comes first, and the moment is built to fit it. That is the same instinct that drove The Artful Escape, and exactly why we built this guide around the music as much as the plot.
If you are playing right now, the fastest way in is our chapter-by-chapter walkthrough, the full song-to-scene map, or our breakdown of all four endings.
Quick answers
Common questions about the studio
Is Mixtape made by the same studio as The Artful Escape?
Yes. Both Mixtape (2026) and The Artful Escape (2021) were developed by Beethoven & Dinosaur and published by Annapurna Interactive. Mixtape is the studio's second game.
Who created Mixtape?
Mixtape was created by Johnny Galvatron, who founded Beethoven & Dinosaur in 2017 and previously fronted the punk-rock band The Galvatrons. He directs the studio's games around music first.
Where is Beethoven & Dinosaur based?
The studio is independent and based in Melbourne, Australia.
Is Mixtape Guide an official site?
No. Mixtape Guide is an independent fan project and is not affiliated with Beethoven & Dinosaur or Annapurna Interactive.
One thing to be clear about
We are a fan project, not the studio
Mixtape Guide is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Beethoven & Dinosaur or Annapurna Interactive. We are an independent, fan-made site. Mixtape, The Artful Escape and all related names, artwork and soundtrack metadata belong to their respective rights holders; we reference them under fair-use principles for guide and commentary purposes.
For official information, trailers and store links, visit the game's publisher at annapurnainteractive.com. To learn how this site itself is researched, written and edited, see our About page.