MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Unsigned is MCV/DEVELOP’s monthly initiative to bring the best upcoming indie titles to broader industry awareness. We aim to help them find the support and partners they need to reach the best and biggest possible audience.
A dark first-person fantasy adventure with survival and RPG elements. Grab your axe and go on an epic journey into the ominous depths of an ancient mountain.
Developer: Sycoforge
Location: Zurich, Switzerland
Team size: Thirteen in Switzerland, five full time, eight part time, 21+ international freelancers on project basis
Progress: In production
Contact details: l.nowak@sycoforge.com, Lukas Nowak
Tell us about your game and why you decided to develop it
Before the game, there was the universe. Our co-founders started to develop their own fantasy universe called Arafinn already in 2009 during their Computer Science studies.
In 2017, equipped with their degrees, they decided to create Return to Nangrim, the first game set in this universe, and share the extensive lore with the world.
Why did you decide to use Unity to create this game, can you tell us anything about using the engine on this project?
At the beginning of our development unity was one of the few solutions out there and great in terms of price-performance ratio. Nowadays, the whole team is highly proficient in Unity, and Sycoforge has even developed its own assets which are very successful on the unity asset store such as Easy Decal and Map Lab.
Recently we have been in touch with two great guys at Unity (Nicolas Vidal and Charles Renverse) and are exploring several opportunities with unity’s Integrated Success Services (ISS), one the one hand to improve our product, development knowledge and team, and on the other hand to grow the Swiss ecosystem and bring the Swiss gaming industry to the next level.
What kind of support are you looking for from a potential partner?
From a publishing partner we expect high expertise in all aspects of a full publishing service:
In marketing, press relations and press releases, influencer marketing campaigns, content creation, social media management pre, at, and after release; In PR, platform and console negotiations, exclusivity deals, receiving approval to publish globally (in Japanese and Chinese markets); Porting to consoles (or support thereof); Physical release with special editions and collector editions; Development funding of approx. $1.5m.
We expect our partner to recognize our strengths and acknowledge where other partners might be more beneficial for the project and therefore ask for access to or readiness to partner with local publishers and partners; First-level support upon release; Long-term partnership with options and willingness to create DLCs, sequels, build the Arafinn universe, and create merchandise.
