Skull Island: Rise of Kong has been doing the rounds for all the wrong reasons, with some calling it the worst game of 2023, thanks to its shallow production values and wonky gameplay. This, inevitably, led to the title being roundly dunked on by the internet writ large and dubbed a "Gollum-like" as a result.
Sadly, like The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, the root cause behind sub-par game releases like these is always less funny the closer you look. Skull Island was developed by IguanaBee, an indie developer doing contract work from Santiago, Chile, and published by the Minnesota-based GameMill Entertainment.
Speaking to The Verge, current and former developers from IguanaBee (who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal) revealed that the game's state was the result of it being built from scratch with a strict one-year deadline, with anywhere from two to 20 employees working on it at any one time. One developer said that "the development process of this game was started in June of last year, and it was aimed to end on June 2nd this year. So, one-year development process." Another said, "The crunch was set in motion in February. I was on automatic pilot by the end of February because all hope was lost.”
This is an arrangement the studio has undertaken before, part of what was described as a vicious cycle. To make original games, the studio needs to take on contract work, which means agreeing to these strict publisher stipulations: "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." Previously, IguanaBee worked on What Lies in the Multiverse, a puzzle platformer that enjoys Very Positive reviews on Steam and is published by Untold Tales.
Using SteamDB's up-to-date analytics, at least on Steam, Skull Island: Rise of Kong managed an all-time peak player count of 22 on launch day, with eight curious souls in-game currently. The story may be different on PlayStation platforms, which are harder to gauge, but it's probably safe to say this one has been a commercial bomb, as well.
Are you one of those brave few currently playing Skull Island: Rise of Kong? Remember that no one sets out to make a bad game in the comments section below.
[source theverge.com]
Comments 8
A one year development cycle is akin to ET for the 2600’s 8 week development cycle.
A good example of selling the IP alone would sell well enough for profit regardless of quality. It may have worked in the 80s and 90s when the internet had a small user base, and getting information from games was from magazines and advertisements. But not today. I hope someone else would give the IP the respect it deserves. This IP has a long history.
Really 1 year that's ridiculous
They are playing this smart. In my opinion, this was intentionally developed low-quality. Many people will buy it for this exact reason because they've heard how bad it is and they want to experience it for themselves. I think this is pretty brilliant for making easy money.
I'm looking forward playing it as next months PS Plus free game...
@djlard It's not a free game if it's required for you to PAY for a PAID service. I'm sure you were being sarcastic all around but we really need to stop spreading this misinformation because there are people out there who actually believe they're paying to play free games. Nothing paid is free.
@RobynAlecksys why do you care how other people view things so much? Yes its not completely free but for people who just pay for ps plus to play online they class it as a free bonus.
As i type this there is only one person on steam playing this, 22 all time has got to be the worst and saddest i have ever seen, king kong deserves better.
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...