Close Menu
Technology Mag

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

    What's Hot

    Feds Seize Record-Breaking $15 Billion in Bitcoin From Alleged Scam Empire

    October 16, 2025

    Steve Jobs will appear on commemorative $1 coin

    October 16, 2025

    Microsoft is reportedly moving its Surface manufacturing out of China

    October 16, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Subscribe
    Technology Mag
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube
    • Home
    • News
    • Business
    • Games
    • Gear
    • Reviews
    • Science
    • Security
    • Trending
    • Press Release
    Technology Mag
    Home » ‘Death Occurs in the Dark’: Indie Video Game Devs Are Struggling to Survive
    Games

    ‘Death Occurs in the Dark’: Indie Video Game Devs Are Struggling to Survive

    News RoomBy News RoomJuly 18, 20243 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Reddit WhatsApp Email

    Necrosoft Games was running out of money. At the rate things were going, the video game studio’s director, Brandon Sheffield, surmised that the company would be broke before its current project, a Persona-like RPG called Demonschool, shipped in September.

    This was in March, and prospects were looking glum. The funding climate for video games was dangerously bad, especially for small projects, and layoffs seemed to happen at studios across the industry almost weekly. Then, a Hail Mary: Sheffield, an industry veteran with over a decade of experience, was able to secure a contract for Necrosoft to do some work on another game. It wasn’t an ideal situation—the studio would have to do the work while also finishing Demonschool—but a necessary one. “It was the only way to survive, because nobody was funding anything,” he says. “It’s also better than what’s happening to a lot of people, where they just have to fold.”

    The studio’s troubles are hardly unique. After a harsh year of layoffs in 2023, GamesIndustry.biz reported in January that company heads were already eyeing 2024 as “the year of closures.” After a boom in hiring during the Covid-19 pandemic, things cooled off, and now many game developers say mismanagement is making things worse. Avenues smaller developers could once rely on for cash, like offering their games as exclusives on the Epic Games Store or Microsoft Game Pass, are no longer open. In March, Chris Bourassa, creative director of Darkest Dungeon developer Red Hook Studios, put it bluntly in an interview with PC Gamer: “The gold rush is over.”

    Necrosoft bought itself time to get its game across the finish line, but now—like so many other small developers—it remains in a precarious position. “All of our hopes depend on this game being a success,” Sheffield says. “That’s obviously a bad situation.”

    As the industry shrinks, independent developers are vanishing left and right. While some are holding on to the hopeful refrain “survive till ’25”—making it through this brutal year in hopes prospects improve in the next—others are less optimistic.

    “‘Survive till ’25’ assumes that we are encountering a long winter rather than having burned our own crops for three years previous,” says Xalavier Nelson, studio head of El Paso, Elsewhere developer Strange Scaffold. “Unless we start planting differently, unless we start changing the way we work and think about making games, then we’re going to continue to see the highest highs and the lowest lows that games has ever seen. And it might, in fact, just get worse.”

    The video games industry seems to be in free fall. How any particular company lands, though, depends on their size. When large companies like Microsoft, Unity, Electronic Arts, or Ubisoft want to tighten their belts, they do layoffs, but the company itself still exists. For independent gamemakers, the fallout is more existential. Since they’re often run by small teams of fewer than a couple dozen people, belt-tightening can often mean simply shutting down.

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleMeta won’t release its multimodal Llama AI model in the EU
    Next Article Nintendo finally made its own Joy-Con controller charging station

    Related Posts

    These Steelseries Earbuds Have Barely Been Out of My Head in Months—and They’re on Sale

    October 15, 2025

    You Can Get Lenovo’s Gaming Handheld for $120 Off Right Now

    October 15, 2025

    The ASUS TUF T500 Is a Great Gaming PC for Beginners

    October 12, 2025

    Lenovo’s Latest Gaming Laptop Is $200 Off Right Now

    October 10, 2025

    I’ve Been Reviewing Gaming Laptops for Over a Decade. Here’s What to Look for When Shopping

    October 3, 2025

    3 Years Later, Playdate Is Still Gaming’s Best-Kept Secret

    September 30, 2025
    Our Picks

    Steve Jobs will appear on commemorative $1 coin

    October 16, 2025

    Microsoft is reportedly moving its Surface manufacturing out of China

    October 16, 2025

    Senate Democrats want to know: was YouTube’s Trump settlement a bribe?

    October 15, 2025

    I just reviewed the Xbox Ally, ask me anything

    October 15, 2025
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Pinterest
    • Instagram
    • YouTube
    • Vimeo
    Don't Miss
    News

    The MLB app’s best feature is a 30-second delay

    By News RoomOctober 15, 2025

    When my household quit cable four years ago and I lost access to Seattle Mariners…

    Google’s AI video generator is getting better editing and more audio

    October 15, 2025

    Here’s where you can preorder the new M5 MacBook Pro and iPad Pro

    October 15, 2025

    Amazon’s new name for the Fire TV Stick 4K only adds more confusion

    October 15, 2025
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of use
    • Advertise
    • Contact
    © 2025 Technology Mag. All Rights Reserved.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.