A studio born from skate games made a Tolkien survival hit, then put the tools in players' hands. Its less obvious skill is knowing when to build its own world and when to help another studio finish theirs.
Side, formerly PTW, is the roughly 3,200-person, 40-studio contractor that tests, translates, voices, and co-builds games for Activision, Ubisoft, and EA - then hands over the credit.