How crowdfunding made Indivisible a reality

We spoke with the creative directory at Lab Zero Games about her team's work on the upcoming Indivisible.

2

Our own Greg Burke had the opportunity to catch up with Mariel Cartwright, the creative director at Lab Zero Games and chat about their latest project, Indivisible. Indivisible is described as “a hybrid RPG Metroidvania”, combining elements from two of the most famed genres in gaming. The way players traverse the world will mirror the Metroidvania, with a large map, abilities, and unlockable locations. The RPG elements shine through in the combat, with a more traditional, turn-based combat. 

A key speaking point of the interview above is the idea of crowdfunding vs traditional publishing in game development. Indivisible started out with an indiegogo campaign where the public could donate funds towards resources for development. Later on in the cycle, Lab Zero Games partnered with 505 Games in order to front the rest of the cost. When asked about how she feels about crowdfunding in modern game development, Cartwright was of two minds. 

On one hand, crowdfunding allows devs with less resources at their disposal the chance to bring their vision to life. However, the price of game development can grow too steep for an indiegogo payout. “I think people are realizing the reality of how much games really cost.” Cartwright said, when speaking about crowdfunding vs traditional publishers. Many games use crowdfunding as a way to prove to larger publishers that their title has a substantial audience, as was the case with Indivisible. The success Lab Zero Games saw with their crowdfunding campaign helped them score their publishing partnership with 505.

If Indivisible seems like your kind of game, it launches for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 8. Subscribe to the Shacknews and GamerHubTV YouTube channels for more developer interviews.

News Editor

Donovan is a young journalist from Maryland, who likes to game. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge Scream nerd and film fanatic that will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

From The Chatty
Hello, Meet Lola