The Bad King Kong Game Is Part of a 'Vicious Cycle' of Licensed Titles, Devs Say

ign.com:

When Skull Island: Rise of Kong was released earlier this week, we reported on the visceral social media reactions to its rudimentary gameplay, PS2-esque graphics, and left-fielded bugs with many calling it "the worst game of 2023." The reason it's received that dubious title, however, is apparently because the developers only had a year to work on King Kong's latest video game outing.

Per a new report from the The Verge, developers at IguanaBee, an indie studio based in Santiago, Chile, said they were contracted by GameMill to create Skull Island from scratch within a strict one-year turnaround, with development starting last June and expected to be wrapped on June 2, 2023. One developer said the crunch to meet that deadline "was really set in motion in February."

Those who spoke to the Verge under the condition of anonymity pointed to a "vicious cycle" of licensed games published by the company. Basically, although IguanaBee wants to work on original projects (like their well-received original game What Lies in the Multiverse), they're beholden to companies like GameMill for funding, who want licensed titles... and then their portfolio is filled with licensed games, inadvervently making them a go-to for them.

“It’s a love/hate relationship because they are the ones who accept or give the projects and IguanaBee doesn’t have the means to develop almost anything on its own because well, money,” explained one developer.

Another IguanaBee developer, who did not work on Skull Island but has worked on other GameMill titles for the studio, delved into the conditions under which they frequently have to work when it comes to these licensed games.

"It was very common for us not to be provided with all the information about the