What is the worst game of 2023? Not long ago, it was The Lords of the Rings: Gollum. However, today, many players might argue that it's Skull Island: Rise of Kong, a title that became the laughing stock of the internet due to its very poor quality. As expected, there was a turbulent development behind this project.
Skull Island: Rise of Kong was announced in the summer and debuted on October 17th. Although it went relatively unnoticed, it became viral upon release due to a cinematic sequence clip that showcases everything that's wrong: outdated graphics, stiff animations, poor-quality sound effects, and questionable direction.
This King Kong-based title received very poor ratings and is on track to be the worst release of 2023. While it's easy to blame the developers for this failure, it seems that the publisher, GameMill Entertainment, is the culprit.
Around 20 People Worked on Skull Island: Rise of Kong, the Worst Game of 2023
A new report from The Verge gathers testimonies from several anonymous employees of IguanaBee, a Chile-based studio, who were involved in the development of this title or are familiar with the production process.
An employee stated that the team is composed of talented members, but they had very little time to work on the video game. The situation was so bad that they had an extremely tight deadline of one year to start the project from scratch and finish it.
"The development process of this game started in June of last year, and it was scheduled to end on June 2 of this year. So, the process lasted for one year," said the employee, who preferred to remain anonymous to avoid reprisals.
The limited time provided by GameMill Entertainment to the development team to complete the game is just the tip of the iceberg. According to the report, IguanaBee had to deal with a tight budget and a reduced staff of between 2 and 20 workers.
"I remember very well that they fired a colleague who had been there longer than I had. In the end, I knew it was because the publisher had not provided them with enough funds to keep a certain number of people for an extended period," a developer said.
The demands and challenges forced employees to work in crunch, which began in February of this year. "I was on autopilot because all hope was lost," said an employee.
A former developer from the studio, who didn't work on Skull Island: Rise of Kong but did work on other projects under the GameMill Entertainment umbrella, claims that it is very common for the American publisher to refrain from providing all the information about the project, which is "quite frustrating" and forces teams to improvise.
A developer stated that IguanaBee wants to create more original games like What Lies in the Multiverse, which received positive ratings. However, they often have to work on licensed projects to secure funding, creating a "vicious circle" where their catalog is full of third-party IP games. This situation leads publishers like GameMill Entertainment to approach them for more licensed video games.
Despite Skull Island: Rise of Kong being deficient in all areas, members of the development team are proud of what they were able to achieve, despite production difficulties and a one-year deadline.
But tell us, what do you think of this situation? Let us hear your thoughts in the comments.
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