Why Innersloth is funding your next favorite indie game

polygon.com:

Innersloth CEO Forest Willard knew almost immediately following Among Us’ breakout success in 2020 that Innersloth had the resources to support other developers and games. “The idea grew by hearing of a few games that already had publishers but were having trouble and seeking independence,” Willard said. “On the bright side, those were always fixed with negotiations between the publisher and the devs! We never bought anyone out. But then we saw Mars First Logistics, thought it was cool, and figured out the business plan enough to sign it.”

Though Among Us is essential to developer Innersloth’s ability to fund other independent games, it was a different studio’s game that pushed what’s now called Outersloth, a funding initiative, into action: Mars First Logistics, a build-and-transport simulator set on Mars. Basically, take The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s building physics into space, then use your creations to transport cargo across the planet. It was released in Early Access by solo developer Shape Shop in 2023 – and when Willard and Innersloth communications director Victoria Tran saw Mars First Logistics, it pushed the team to figure out a business plan.

Innersloth’s investment into Outersloth has only grown from there. On June 7 at Summer Game Fest, Tran and Willard took the stage to publicly announce Outersloth and several of the games it’s funding. There are nine games in total — so far! — including a card-battling role-playing game from Trinket Studio, the makers of Battlechef Brigade; and Project Dosa, the next game from Thirsty Suitors developer Outerloop Studios. Outersloth’s slate runs the gamut when it comes to genre, but what the games have in common is that they are relatively independent.

“We’ve always known Outersloth would take a backseat to Innersloth, so the whole plan was to find indies who demonstrated they wouldn’t need a full-service publisher,” Willard said. “As far as the game itself, we still haven’t figured out a single answer