The team was known for their use of gorgeous hand-drawn 2D art that was animated more like a traditional cartoon than sprite art in their games, as well as their ability to generate that art quickly. The latter was done by outsourcing most of the work to independent contractors, many of which were fans of the games themselves.
Another thing the team has become known for was being able to get the services of well known Japanese video game composers such as Michiru Yamane and Hiroki Kikuta to score their work.
The studio has only worked on two games, Skullgirls and Indivisible, a side-scrolling adventure game that combines elements of Metroidvania with the 2D combat of Valkyrie Profile.
In 2020 almost the entire staff of Lab Zero Games left, citing a toxic work culture perpetuated by the owner, Mike Zaimont, and the company itself closed soon after. Many former Lab Zero staff went on to form a new employee-owned game development studio called Future Club.
Games and series developed by Lab Zero Games:
Tropes associated with Lab Zero:
- Doing It for the Art: One of the things they're known for. The only reason why they used the 2D art they did was simply because they wanted to.
- This also applied to their vaunted legacy controller driver for the PlayStation 4. First made to allow 3rd party PlayStation 3 controllers to work on Skullgirls: 2nd Encore for PlayStation4, it could be licensed for free by anyone who wants to use it in their games. The list of games that are using it reads like a who's who of fighting games including Mortal Kombat X, Ultra Street Fighter IV, and Street Fighter V.
