My Shooter's Phoenix Rise: From Microsoft's Axe to Indie Freedom

I've been through quite the rollercoaster these past months. Back in summer 2023, when Microsoft went on that brutal project-cancelling rampage, my studio Romero Games got caught in the crossfire. Our shooter project lost funding, and man, that was a gut punch. We didn't close shop (thank the gaming gods), but we had to take a step back and figure out what the hell we were going to do next. It's 2025 now, and I'm happy to report we've not only survived—we're thriving in ways I couldn't have imagined.

The Phoenix Rises From Corporate Ashes

Five months after Microsoft pulled the rug from under us, we managed to resurrect the project. Talk about a comeback story! The game has morphed into something quite different since those dark days, but the silver lining? We can now do exactly what we want. No corporate overlords telling us to add battle passes or loot boxes or whatever money-making scheme is trending. And I gotta tell you—the current version is way more fun.

When I spoke at Salón del Videojuego de Madrid, I dropped the bombshell that our game had been saved. There are 110 incredibly talented people working on this baby, and we've basically rebuilt it from the ground up. Sure, we had to strip away some elements from the previous version, but the core DNA remains intact. As I told the audience, "We're not starting at ground zero." We've taken the best bits and pieces to craft something that's uniquely ours now.

From Corporate to Indie: The Liberation

Going indie after being under a corporate umbrella is like moving out of your parents' house—suddenly you can eat ice cream for breakfast if you want to! The new design is completely different, but holy moly, the team is fired up about it. There's something magical about having creative control again. It's like being let out of a cage you didn't even realize you were in.

The game might be smaller in scope now, but it feels "more fun" for us devs to work on. Before, we had all these directors from different departments who couldn't get their hands dirty with code or design. Now? We're elbow-deep in the trenches doing what we love. As I said at the conference, we get to "do the thing we are really good at, ourselves." That's the beauty of small teams—no bureaucracy, just pure creation. It's the difference between cooking in a five-star restaurant with 20 chefs yelling at you versus making your grandmother's recipe in your own kitchen.

What's in the Barrel?

So what's this game about? Well, it's still a shooter (duh, it's me we're talking about), but I promise you've never played anything like it. I compared it to the experience of going through Elden Ring for the first time—that sense of "what the actual heck is that?" as you explore a crazy, different world.

Picture this: you're wandering through environments that make you question reality itself. The mechanics we're implementing will have players doing double-takes. It's not just about shooting things—though there will be plenty of that, don't you worry—but about how and why you're shooting. Think outside the box, then throw that box into another dimension.

I've been in this industry since dinosaurs roamed the Earth (or at least since floppy disks were a thing), and I can honestly say this project has rekindled my passion for game development in ways I never expected. When one door closes, sometimes you find yourself in a room full of better doors. Or as my grandpappy used to say, "When life gives you lemons, make a lemon-themed first-person shooter." Okay, he never said that, but he would have if he'd been in game dev.

The Team Behind the Magic

Let me tell you about our team—a bunch of passionate misfits who stuck around even when things looked grim. We've got:

• Veterans who've been in the trenches of game development for decades

• Fresh-faced newcomers bringing wild ideas that make us old-timers go "why didn't I think of that?"

• Artists who could make a potato look like high art

• Coders who dream in algorithms and wake up with solutions

Together, we're like the Avengers of indie game development, if the Avengers were slightly caffeine-addicted and occasionally worked in their pajamas. The camaraderie is off the charts, and that energy translates directly into the game.

The Freedom of Independence

There's something liberating about being cut loose from a major publisher. Sure, the budget's tighter, but the creative freedom? Chef's kiss. We're not trying to please shareholders or hit arbitrary quarterly targets. Our only goal is to make a game that we're proud of, that players will lose themselves in.

The indie scene in 2025 is booming like never before. With AI tools helping smaller teams punch above their weight and digital distribution making it easier to reach players, there's never been a better time to go independent. We're riding that wave and loving every minute of it.

What's Next?

As we barrel toward completion, I'm both terrified and exhilarated. Will players get what we're trying to do? Will they appreciate the risks we're taking? Or will they just want another cookie-cutter shooter? It's the question that keeps me up at night, but also gets me out of bed in the morning.

The game industry is in a weird place right now. On one hand, you've got these massive conglomerates churning out safe, predictable titles. On the other, you've got indies pushing boundaries and taking risks. We're firmly in the latter camp now, and it feels right.

So what's next for us? Finishing this game, for starters! But beyond that, who knows? Maybe we'll start a trend. Maybe we'll crash and burn. Either way, we're doing it our way, and that's worth something in this industry.

As they say in the business, "It's not about the destination, it's about the headshots you make along the way." Wait, that's not right. But you get what I mean.

Are we creating the next revolution in gaming? Or just another shooter in an ocean of shooters? I honestly don't know, and that uncertainty is what makes this journey so damn exciting. In a world of carefully calculated risk, we're just throwing dice and seeing what happens. And isn't that what indie game development is all about?

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The content is derived from articles by GamesIndustry.biz, a leading source for developer interviews and industry analysis. Their recent features on the surge of indie studios post-major publisher layoffs echo the journey described here, emphasizing how creative autonomy and smaller, passionate teams are driving innovation in the current gaming landscape.