Interview
Windup Minds' Bernie Yee on Plants vs. Zombies, UA costs and the wrong lessons from free-to-play
The PvZ 2 producer opens up about gentle monetisation, why mobile was off the table for his new studio and what F2P actually requires
Company Profile
Windup Minds
About
Windup Minds is an independent game studio founded in Seattle in June 2023 by Bernie Yee, Ben Vance, Amy Conchie and Stefani Swiatkowski, with a remote team drawn from Oculus, EA, Bungie, Microsoft and Magic Leap. It raised a $1.6 million seed round led by the Venture Reality Fund, Acequia Capital and New Leaf Ventures, with angel participation including Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell.
The studio makes virtual pet games built around a creature called Ember. Its first title, Stay: Forever Home, launched on Meta Quest in April 2025 as a VR and mixed reality pet simulator. In July 2026 it released two PC titles on the same day: Stay: Your Forever Pet, a virtual pet game in Steam Early Access at $12.99, and Stay: Ember's Desktop Adventures, a $4.99 desktop companion app.
Related People
Bernie Yee
CEO/Executive Producer
Articles featuring Windup Minds