Lessons learned from the success of Spiritfarer

gamesindustry.biz:

Colin Campbell

Tuesday 15th February 2022

Thunder Lotus Games

For any indie team to make a million-selling game is a rare achievement. But when the game is centered on a subject as difficult as grief, loss and dying -- and launched into the teeth of a global pandemic -- it's especially noteworthy.

Spiritfarer is a game about making friends with people who are dying, and then helping them cope with their journey onwards. It's a cozy world of gentle hues, where humans take the form of animals who care for one another, and where the player builds a world around favors and relationships.

It's also based on the development team's own stories about loved ones who have passed on; cherished memories of grandparents whose lives and personalities left a great impression. They are celebrated in the dramatic personas of great characters, including an owl, a lynx, and a hog, all of whom have led storied lives.

In December, Montreal-based publisher and developer Thunder Lotus Games -- which employs around 30 people -- announced that it had come to the end of the game's post-launch life of updates and DLC, with the release of the Farewell Edition. Its status as a million-selling indie hit was celebrated by the media, which has generally been enthusiastic about the game since its first reveal at E3 in 2019.

Creative director Nicolas Guérin

Spiritfarer was the company's third release, following combat adventure Jotun (2015), and dark metroidvania Sundered (2017). While both those games were likable, and commercially viable, neither of them suggested an incoming hit of Spiritfarer's scale.

The game's post-reveal journey is instructive, because it frames the potential for independent developers to find major success outside gaming's power