Why Innersloth is funding your next favorite indie game
Innersloth CEO Forest Willard knew almost immediately after Among us‘ success in 2020 that Innersloth had the resources to support other developers and games. “The idea grew from hearing about a few games that already had publishers, but were struggling and were looking for independence,” Willard said. “On the bright side, those were always resolved with negotiations between the publisher and the devs! We never bought anyone out. But then we saw Mars First Logisticsthought it was cool and had worked out the business plan well enough to sign it.”
although Among us is essential to developer Innersloth’s ability to fund other independent games, but it was another studio’s game that sparked the initiative now called Outersloth: Mars First Logisticsa construction and transportation simulator on Mars. Basically take The Legend of Zelda: Kingdom Tears‘s building physics in 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 then Willard and Innersloth saw communications director Victoria Tran Mars First Logisticsit prompted the team to develop a business plan.
Innersloth’s investment in Outersloth has only grown since then. On June 7 at Summer Game Fest, Tran and Willard took the stage to publicly announce Outersloth and several games it is funding. There are nine games in total — so far! — including a card-battling role-playing game from Trinket Studio, the makers of Battlechief Brigade; And Project Dosathe next match of 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’re relatively independent.
“We always knew that Outersloth was going to be less popular than Innersloth, so the whole plan was to find indies that showed they didn’t need a full-service publisher,” Willard said. “In terms of the game itself, we still haven’t found a clear answer to what fits, but we know when it feels right and everything makes sense.”
Among us is still Innersloth’s first priority — so it was important to structure the initiative as a fund and not a publisher, Willard said. “We’re happy to provide connections and advice, but it’s up to the teams to take control of what they want to do and how! It gives them freedom, because we don’t want to disrupt their process and/or take away their IP.”
Outersloth uses a recoup-and-revenue-share model to create fair deals for the developers it supports. Tran said it’s a basic way of doing business in the video game industry: Outersloth invests in a game and recoups that investment after the game launches, sharing the revenue with the developer until it’s repaid. After that investment is recouped, Outersloth takes a smaller percentage for a period of time. Outersloth plans to share the details of the percentages of the agreement “at a future date,” Tran said.
Funding has been a struggle for most studios over the past two years, but it feels like an insurmountable task for marginalized developers, who receive far and away the least funding. It’s not like funding has ever been easy either; making sure an entire development team can survive during development is one of the hardest parts of the job. Now, it’s even worse.
“As indie developers, we knew that one of the hardest things to get was funding,” Tran said. “We’re very fortunate to be in the position we’re in and have eyes on us, so we hoped that we could create something that would hopefully inspire others to pass it on wherever they can and whatever that means to them. We only got here because of the help of our peers and players, so it felt good to help out where we could.”
Over the past two years, the video game industry has not only seen a decline in funding, but also a massive amount of layoffs and studio closures; more people in the video game industry will be laid off in the first half of 2024 than in the entirety of 2023. And that’s not necessarily because the video game industry is struggling financially. People in the United States $57.2 billion spent on video games in 2023, up from $56.6 billion in 2022, according to the Entertainment Software Association and data analyst Circana. The question is around spending in 2024, which Circana analyst Mat Piscatella estimated 2% loweroptimistic, or 10%, pessimistic, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. All of which is to say that things are tougher than ever for video game studios in a year defined by closures and layoffs; even studios with critically successful launches this fate has befallen.
Funds like Outersloth will help to see a sustainable future for at least some studios – or at least that’s the hope. None of the announced games have been released yet, except Mars First Logistics in Early Access. Outersloth expects to continue investing in games, however, and is accepting applications from game developers. It’s a move you don’t see often — indie game studios funding other indie game studios.
Usually it is the larger developers and publishers who create these funds: like Microsoft, Google, and Sony. Then there are other funding initiatives, such as impact fund Strange Spirits or Wings Interactivewho are specifically looking for diversity in their investments. Outersloth’s investment fund works more like the latter; WINGS, for example, uses a similar model where it shares revenue at varying percentages until the investment is recouped, allowing developers to retain IP rights. Where things differ is that WINGS offers more intensive support for publishing and business development; Outersloth is looking for developers who can operate independently but can provide advice when needed.
“Having diverse funding and publishing models that fit the needs of developers is a step in the right direction, and caring about their sustainability and success is a big part of that,” Tran said. “It’s not just indies that are finding success, but also larger companies that may have more flexibility and resources to take on more games. Ultimately, the way forward is for people to care about people, and I hope Outersloth can help with that.”