Greetings everyone, Carlos here, CEO at Blini Games! One more week, I bring you some notes about Lovecraft’s Untold Stories 2, and also about us, as indie studio managing to survive in this difficult market.
Many of you already know that we are about to release the Early Access version of Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2. It's been a long way to get here, and we are very happy with the results. But, what very few of you know is how the original idea came to be, and how it has evolved to this day. So, how about we take a brief look back to the origins of Lovecraft's Untold Stories?
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[h3]2014 – 2015: INCEPTION[/h3]In mid-2014, Blini Games was a brand new studio. We didn't have an office, we didn't have a team, and we didn't have money... all we had was the desire to develop games, know-how, and good ideas.
In those years, I was hooked on a game called Binding of Isaac, and I've been a Lovecraft fan since I was a child, so I came up with the idea of putting the two things together. All that was left was to find a team. I’m Spanish, so I found the first group of enthusiasts, wanting to make a game just for the love of it, in my home-country.
I found a designer, a programmer, and an artist, and we worked together when our regular jobs allowed it. The objective was to make a rogue-like for mobiles. Basically, it would be a copy of Binding of Isaac, with enemies and scenarios inspired by the novels of H.P. Lovecraft. The plan was to finish it in 6 months... Huh, what a dream!
We managed to make the first prototype with 3 levels, 4 different enemies, and a final boss. Later, our obligations, and the facts that 6 months turned into a year, we were working for free, and the game was nowhere near its completion, stalled the project and each one of us went their own way…
[h3]2016: FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE[/h3]By that time, I already was living in Russia, and I met there Alexey, who is today my partner.
In August 2016, during the Gamescom in Cologne, we both decided that it was time to restart the project. So, we put in some savings that we had, and hired a programmer and an artist on staff, and we rented our first office in Moscow. We took the old prototype as starting point, changed the graphic direction, opting for pixel-art, and aimed for a release on Steam.
We calculated that we would have money to cover a little more than 1 year of work, in which we would have to remake the prototype, and with it ready, look for an investor who would like to finance the whole project.
At the beginning of 2017, our artist left the company, and we were forced to look for a new one, having to change the graphic style again. We continued working in the code, using the old graphics, until April 2018, when we finally got what would be our beloved Detective, and some scenarios that looked more like what we always wanted, but... we were running out of money.
[h3]APRIL – JUNE 2018: A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS[/h3]After more than 15 years working in the games business, I had a considerable list of contacts between publishers and distributors, so, with the new prototype in my hands, I started the searching for financial support. I had 2 months to find a partner, or we would have to freeze again the project and fire the team for the lack of funds.
Of a list of 35 publishers:
0 offered us actual money. The reasons they gave us? “The project is too risky for us” or, “The project is too small for us.” BUT!! All of them offered us a Publishing deal (Marketing services in exchange of a share of the profits, if we give them the game finished).
10 weren´t interested at all in the project. The truth is, these were AAA big-ass publishers, so I didn´t expect a “Yes” from them from the very beginning… But I had to try!
12 totally ignored my emails. ☹
In the end, we had 13 Publishing offers over the table, but no money to complete the game. The publishing solution didn't interest us for obvious reasons, so I started looking for money outside of the gaming market.
Now, I could come up a story about the Russian mafia lending me black money, or something like that... But nothing so exciting. In the end, it was a close acquaintance who loaned us part of the money, and I put the rest.
Thus, we became our own publishers and created the Steam page.
[h3]SEPTEMBER 2018: SWEET EARLY ACCESS O’ MINE![/h3]If anybody asks me, what was the best decision during the development of Lovecraft’s Untold Stories; I have no doubt that it was releasing an Early Access version. Man, how I love the Steam community!
Thanks to those who bought our initial version, and actively gave us their opinions and feedbacks in the forums, Lovecraft’s Untold Stories became the game that it is today.
In the 5 months of Early Access:
- We added the adventure/mini events system: The initial version was basically a “Pew! Pew!” action game. Our customers demanded more Lovecrafty content, so we hired a screenwriter who knows EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW about the Lovecraft’s books (We love you, Martin!) and added a ton of mini-events and quests that were very welcomed by the community. From the original 5.000 words that the game had, it went up to 52.000 words!
- We changed the 4-Axis for the mouse aiming: Maybe one of the greatest improvements. When we released the Early Access version, we still had the shooting mechanics of Binding of Isaac, in which our character shot in 4 directions (up/down/left/right) using the keyboard or the gamepad. Our players suggested about adding a 360º mouse aiming system, and it really changed everything, for good.
Marketing-wise, we could have done more, I´m sure, but we actively promoted the game in the social networks, even more actively answered to every post in the forums, and published periodic updates. Thanks to this, we created a loyal community around the project that loved it.
[h3]JANUARY - JULY 2019: PC RELEASE, MOBILE & CONSOLE PORTINGS[/h3]On January 31st we officially released Lovecraft’s Untold Stories, and continued patching it for several months until we cleaned it of bugs and issues, as much as we could.
On May, we released the Android and iOS versions, and signed a deal with a Spanish publisher who did the porting to console for us (Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One)…
In the following year, we had many good and not so good surprises, but one thing was clear for us: the indie gaming market it is much harder than it was 10 years ago, but still, it is possible to survive as an indie developer, to do what you like, and to build a business out of your hobby.
[h3]WHAT BRINGS THE FUTURE?[/h3]Lovecraft’s Untold Stories 2 is our present and our future. We are a more grown-up development team; we have a multiplatform project released and still selling well to back that up, and a partner who trusts us and our new project.
We sincerely hope that Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 will be what its older brother couldn’t be, and that it will bring to all its users many hours of entertainment and healthy madness.
Are you an indie developer like us, and have any questions about development or publishing?
Are you planning on developing a game, but you don´t know how to start?
Don´t hesitate, and leave us a comment below!
Last but not least - don't forget that Lovecraft's Untold Stories 2 will be participating in the
Steam Next Fest starting tomorrow! If you want to try the game out even before its Early Access Release, you will have the opportunity to play a free demo until 7th October!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1401400/Lovecrafts_Untold_Stories_2/
Until the next time!
