Innersloth CEO Forest Willard knew almost immediately following Among Us’ breakout success in 2020 that Innersloth had the resources to support other developers and games. “The idea grew by hearing of a few games that already had publishers but were having trouble and seeking independence,” Willard said. “On the bright side, those were always fixed with negotiations between the publisher and the devs! We never bought anyone out. But then we saw Mars First Logistics, thought it was cool, and figured out the business plan enough to sign it.”
Though Among Us is essential to developer Innersloth’s ability to fund other independent games, it was a different studio’s game that pushed what’s now called Outersloth, a funding initiative, into action: Mars First Logistics, a build-and-transport simulator set on Mars. Basically, take The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s building physics into 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 when Willard and Innersloth communications director Victoria Tran saw Mars First Logistics, it pushed the team to figure out a business plan.
Innersloth’s investment into Outersloth has only grown from there. On June 7 at Summer Game Fest, Tran and Willard took the stage to publicly announce Outersloth and several of the games it’s funding. There are nine games in total — so far! — including a card-battling role-playing game from Trinket Studio, the makers of Battlechef Brigade; and Project Dosa, the next game from 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 are relatively independent.
“We’ve always known Outersloth would take a backseat to Innersloth, so the whole plan was to find indies who demonstrated they wouldn’t need a full-service publisher,” Willard said. “As far as the game itself, we still haven’t figured out a single answer to what fits, but we know when it feels right and everything makes sense.”
Among Us is still Innersloth’s first priority — so framing the initiative as a fund and not a publisher was key, Willard said. “We are 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 as we don’t want to interfere with their process and/or take their IP.”
Outersloth is using a recoup-and-revenue-share model to create equitable deals for the developers it’s supporting. Tran said it’s a basic way to do business in the video game industry: Outersloth invests in a game, then recoups that investment after the game is launched, splitting revenue with the developer until it’s paid back. After that investment has been recouped, Outersloth takes a smaller percentage for a set amount of time. Outersloth plans to share the details of the agreement percentages “at a future date,” Tran said.
It’s been hard for most studios to get funding over the past two years, but it feels like an insurmountable task for marginalized developers, who receive the least funding by far. It’s not like it’s ever been easy to get funding either; ensuring an entire development team can sustain a living through development is one of the hardest parts of the job. Now, it’s even worse.
“Being indie devs ourselves, we knew one of the hardest things to get was straight up funding,” Tran said. “We’re very privileged to be in the position we’re in and have the eyes on us, so we hoped we could create something that hopefully inspires others to pay it forward, wherever they can and whatever that means to them. We only got here because of the help of our industry peers and players, so it felt right to help where we could.”
Over the past two years, the video game industry has not only seen the decrease of funding, but a dire amount of layoffs and studio closures; more people in the video game industry have been laid off in the first half of 2024 than the entirety of 2023. It’s not necessarily because the video game industry is doing bad financially. People in the United States spent $57.2 billion on video games in 2023, which is 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 to be down 2%, optimistically, or 10%, pessimistically, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz. This is all to say, it’s harder out there than ever for video game studios in a year that’s been defined by closures and layoffs; even studios with critically successful launches have met this fate.
Funds like Outersloth will help 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, save for Mars First Logistics in its Early Access period. Outersloth expects to continue to invest in games, however, and is accepting applications from game developers. It’s a move you don’t often see — indie game studios funding other indie game studios.
Typically, it’s larger developers and publishers that create these funds: the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Sony. Then there are other funding initiatives, like impact fund Weird Ghosts or Wings Interactive, which look specifically for diversity in their investments. Outersloth’s investment fund operates more like the latter; WINGS, for instance, uses a similar model where it shares revenue at different percentages until the investment is recouped, allowing developers to keep IP rights. Where things differ is that WINGS offers more intensive support in publishing and business development; Outersloth is looking for developers able to operate independently, but is able to offer advice when needed.
“Having diverse funding and publishing models that can fit developer needs is a step in the right direction, and caring about their sustainability and success is a core part of that,” Tran said. “It’s not just on indies who find success, but on larger corporations who may have more flexibility and resources to take on more games. At the end of the day, the way forward is to have people care about people, and I hope Outersloth can help with that.”
