When Skull Island: Rise of Kong was released earlier this week, we were impressed by its rudimentary gameplay, PS2-like graphics, and the fact that many called it “the worst game of 2023.” We reported on social media’s visceral reactions to bugs in the field. But the reason it was given such a dubious title is apparently because the developers only had a year to work on the latest King Kong video game.
According to a new report from The VergeDevelopers at Santiago, Chile-based indie studio IguanaBee say they have signed a deal with GameMill to create Skull Island from scratch within a strict one-year deadline, with development starting in June of last year and scheduled for 2023. It said it is expected to be completed on June 2, 2020. One developer said the crisis about meeting that deadline “started in earnest in February.”
People who spoke to The Verge on condition of anonymity pointed to a “vicious cycle” of licensed games published by the company. Basically, IguanaBee wants to work on original projects (like original games that have been well-received); What’s in the multiverse?), they rely on companies like GameMill for funding, and they want licensed titles… and their portfolio is filled with licensed games, and they unintentionally and it becomes their go-to.
“It’s a love-hate relationship, because they are the ones who accept or give away projects, and IguanaBee doesn’t have the means to develop most things on its own because of money,” said one developer. explained.
Another IguanaBee developer, who doesn’t work on Skull Island but has worked on the studio’s other GameMill titles, took a closer look at the terms he often has to work with on these licensed games.
“It was common for all information about a project not to be provided,” the developer said. “It was very frustrating during the process as we had to improvise with the limited information we had.”
They also said, “I remember very well letting go of a colleague who had been there longer than me because the publisher didn’t provide enough funding to maintain a certain number of readers.” I knew that deep down,” he added. The period has been extended. ”
GameMill has not yet responded to IGN’s request for comment.
Most games, whether based on licensed IP or not, take a year or more for studios to develop in order to provide players with the best gameplay experience and highest quality. As a result, game delays are not that unusual, even if they are temporarily lamented by fans.
We gave Skull Island a 4 in our review, saying, “With no meaningful attempt to do anything new or clever, mindless combat and pointless platforming, it beats every action game of the past 20 years. It makes it feel like a worse version of.”
Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. In the words of Calvin Harris, she puts her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on display like it’s a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.
