GamesCity BuilderManor LordsManor Lords creator “kind of” agrees that he isn’t really a solo dev but says he’s earned the title because “if I quit, it’s game over"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesCity BuilderManor LordsManor Lords creator “kind of” agrees that he isn’t really a solo dev but says he’s earned the title because “if I quit, it’s game over"When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Slavic Magic)
Manor Lordsdeveloper Greg Styczeń says he’s thinking of a new term to replace ‘solo dev’ when referring to himself after pushback from a competing game developer.
Namely, Crate Entertainment studio head Arthur Bruno, who released the city builder Farthest Frontier into early access in August 2022, toldPC Gamer"it drives me nuts” that Manor Lords is generally considered a solo effort while his game isn’t.
It’s no secret that Styczeń, under his studio moniker Slavic Magic, had some help with Manor Lords thanks to his Patreon and a hefty grant fromEpic Gamesa couple of years back. However, I reckon in this case Styczeń didn’t stop using the term solo dev because he remains the primary creative driver behind the title as well as the only developer actively working on the meat of the game.
I want to address some devs being angry that I call myself a solo dev even though my credits are so long. I agree! Kind of. I face a huge pressure to grow and hire and it’s slowly happening. But also, THIS is the “mocap department”. My best friends in child photography studio. https://t.co/fOLZtLEJWgMay 4, 2024
I want to address some devs being angry that I call myself a solo dev even though my credits are so long. I agree! Kind of. I face a huge pressure to grow and hire and it’s slowly happening. But also, THIS is the “mocap department”. My best friends in child photography studio. https://t.co/fOLZtLEJWgMay 4, 2024
“I want to address some devs being angry that I call myself a solo dev even though my credits are so long,” Styczeń said. “I agree! Kind of. I face a huge pressure to grow and hire and it’s slowly happening. But also, THIS is the ‘mocap department’. My best friends in child photography studio.”
Not to take sides here, but I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if it’s fairly commonplace for “solo devs” to take on outsourced work and still refer to themselves that way. In Manor Lords case,Styczeń sayshe hired a few extra programmers in April to deal with build issues and because he and publisher Hooded Horse wanted to “mitigate risk.” And although he says he’ll think up a new term for himself going forward,he maintainsthat he’s “earned the solo thing” because Manor Lords would crash into the ground if he simply got up and stopped working on it.
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Step aside, Drake and Kendrick, there’s a new beef in town.
Meanwhile,the Manor Lords dev recently asked what the city builder should do next in Early Access, and the community is split.
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