Superhot, the deceptively simplistic combination of puzzle-solving and shooter mechanics offers a really unique visual style. The game became a smash-hit pretty fast, propelling Polish developer and publisher Superhot Team into instant stardom. Since then, the indie team has been plotting behind-the-scenes to push their gaming efforts to a new level by leveraging their past success.
To that end, the company has just announced a new effort based around funding various other independent developers and their projects. The endeavor is called Superhot Presents, and will function as a conglomeration fund of sorts intended to help shore up popular indie titles without them having to resort to other avenues like crowdfunding.
In an interview with PC Games Insider, Superhot Team director of special projects Callum Underwood went into greater depth about the plan. “Firstly, we’ve done quite well out of our own games, so are thankfully able to afford to support other developers as well as continue to grow our own team,” Underwood explained. “Secondly, Superhot received early support from communities such as Kickstarter – the game wouldn’t have happened without that, so it’s nice to think we can do the same for other developers. Finally, we think we’ve become pretty good at the whole “business in games” thing, so if we can offer money up to other developers with a side of unsolicited business advice, that feels like a smart move to make.”
The expanded team sizes, improved visibility and experience offered by the initiative can help new teams avoid various pitfalls in production, which should lead to more polished and successful video games. The folks behind the fund want to be clear though, that this isn’t a full publishing deal, it’s intended more as a stopgap solution of sorts. “We’ll certainly use our business teams to support the developers where we can — platform introductions, contract help, analytics which lead to suggestions of sale percentage amounts and so on — but ideally, we work with developers who just need some support.” Explaining further, there was a pretty clear statement, “If you need a publisher, go to a publisher, there are some fantastic ones. If you just need some money to finish, or start, your game, that’s where we sit.”
So while this isn’t the Superhot folks jumping into the full publishing game, they’re certainly keen to help. So if you’re a developer that’s looking to finish, or start, your game, you can look to them for a little boost and some advice.
