In a recent interview with members of indie collective/developer New Blood, I asked them how they explain their current success amid so much misery, layoffs and studio closures in the industry. “We are not beholden to shareholders, investors or anything like that,” said studio boss Dave Oshry. “We can do whatever we want – that's our whole motto: 'We hate money.'
“We don't actually hate money, money is great, but if we wanted money we would make a Dusk survival horror crafting game. A roguelike-style open-world survival horror crafting deck builder, Dusk.”
Don't expect to see this version of Dusk anytime soon – Oshry attributes the studio's continued health amid the gaming industry's current decline to its developers' persistence in what they want to create: “The games we make, we.” do for ourselves. It just so happens that other people want these types of games too.”
Oshry likened this to the “growth at all costs” attitude he sees on the corporate side of the industry, which he believes has a negative impact on making good games and having fun doing so. With around 30 employees, Oshry is comfortable with the size of a fully remote developer: “I personally care about our developers and everyone who works at New Blood. I make sure everyone is happy and having a good time and that everyone’s voice is heard.”
Growth needs to be considered and contained in New Blood, as opposed to the “more people, more game, more stuff, more features, more loot box, more transactions, more money, more queues” attitude as Oshry describes it. He argues that people who love games should avoid falling into this trap.
“People often ask me, 'Dave, if I want to start playing games now, how do I start?' And I say, don't. Stop it. They should have started five to ten years ago. Go to business school, get a real job. Become a plumber. That's what people need.
“You don’t want to be employee number 356772 reporting to someone who reports to someone who reports to someone who makes the decisions. That sucks. The magic is gone. If you work at a big game studio, you won't enjoy video games anymore.”
While the indie scene doesn't share this particular structural problem, Oshry notes that it's “out there,” and is the first to admit that New Blood's success doesn't exactly provide an easy rubric to follow: “I can't give in.” a GDC talk about how to build a good video game company, because we're hardly a company. But one thing I can say is: work with your friends and treat them like they are your friends.
Oshry further clarified via email: “As everyone seems to be wondering how we manage to continue to do so well despite the apparent collapse of the entire industry, there are actually many companies that are doing well but you just don't hear from them .” the news amidst all the doom and gloom.
Recently hired New Blood developer Dave “Garumin” Bonin, who ran Dusk HD, added that he had effectively stayed out of professional game development for over a decade, waiting for an opportunity like New Blood. Garumin observed a “rotating door, assembly line, kill your employees for profit politics” in the industry. “I thought, 'Well, whatever,' and then I went to the pharmacy and wasted my life there.”
But the future looks bright for Garumin and New Blood Ultra kill And Darkwood continue to bake in Early Access while projects like Fallen aces and a retro Fallout-style CRPG are in the starting blocks. In the meantime, I still have my eye on the Metroid Prime homage portrait and the thief-like snakes by member developers Nate Berens and Thomas Porta.
