How Pathfinder Laid the Groundwork for Owlcat’s New Publishing Arm

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How Pathfinder Laid the Groundwork for Owlcat's New Publishing Arm

Key Takeaways

  • Owlcat is becoming a publisher for indie games to help new studios bring their visions to life.
  • Owlcat is using its self-publishing experience on games like Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous to guide its publishing efforts.
  • Owlcat’s publishing journey is starting with Emotion Spark Studios and Another Angle Games, with the company striving to mentor and guide them.

As a seasoned game enthusiast with years of immersion in the digital realm, I must say that Owlcat Games has truly outdone themselves in their innovative approach to public testing and publishing. Their decision to partner with Humble Choice for the early access release of “Rue Valley” is nothing short of revolutionary.

It’s not unexpected for fans of Owlcat, creators of Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, that they will publish two indie games – Rue Valley and Shadow of the Road. This move is seen as a natural progression following their self-publication of several titles by the studio itself.

As a passionate gamer myself, I recently sat down with Andrey Tsvetkov, Head of Publishing at Owlcat Studios in Cyprus, to discuss their exciting leap forward in the gaming industry. Contrary to what you might think, this new role isn’t entirely fresh for them – it seems they’ve been quietly preparing for this moment as an indie publisher for some time now.

The Quest to Become a Publisher

How Pathfinder Laid the Groundwork for Owlcat's New Publishing Arm

The RPG developer, Owlcat, has an unexpectedly rich past connected with publishing house Knights Peak. However, for their more recent titles such as “Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader”, Owlcat has ventured out independently in the publishing sector, which has opened up fresh perspectives in the industry for them. As Tsvetkov articulated, Owlcat aims to assist studios that were in a similar position as they were about a decade ago, helping them get their start.

As an enthusiast, I was part of the team at Owlcat Games during the development of our second title, “Wrath of the Righteous.” As it entered pre-production, we began brainstorming ways to effectively market this upcoming masterpiece. One idea that immediately captured our interest was launching a Kickstarter campaign for the game. This would serve as our initial foray into self-publishing and eventually becoming a platform for other studios to bring their creative visions to fruition.

As a passionate fan, I’m thrilled to share that Owlcat Games, having honed its skills in narrative gaming, is now stepping up to assist independent studios in realizing their creative dreams. The first two studios to benefit from this collaboration are Emotion Spark Studios from Serbia and Another Angle Games from Poland. Tsvetkov, the man behind Owlcat, doesn’t view this as a matter of picking games to publish, but rather selecting studios with whom to collaborate. For him, it wasn’t just about impressive pitches and demos from Emotion Spark and Another Angle, but their teamwork, their passion, and their potential that truly resonated.

From a fan’s perspective, the intriguing title “Shadow of the Road” by Another Angle, immerses you in a samurai-focused narrative set in an enchanting steampunk feudal Japan. Interestingly, this captivating setting wasn’t initially associated with the game when Owlcat took it over. On the other hand, “Rue Valley” by Emotion Spark, a title that Tsvetkov himself revealed centers around grappling with mental health struggles and depression, resonates deeply with his personal experiences. The narrative unfolds in a profoundly moving manner, much like the engaging storytelling in “Disco Elysium.

Beyond merely promoting Rue Valley and Shadow of the Road, Owlcat aims to offer more substantial support. In essence, Owlcat seeks to guide and nurture the indie studios they collaborate with, as clarified by Tsvetkov.

In our case, we’ve already released three games within this targeted market, a space we’re quite familiar with. We believe we can offer valuable insights to fellow developers. Here’s what we suggest: “Pay close attention to this particular aspect of game development, as it will captivate the player more. Let’s prioritize and ensure that this specific element surpasses expectations.” This is the knowledge we’re offering at various stages of gameplay, and we hope it encourages developers to refine certain aspects of their games even further.

To clarify, Tsvetkov emphasized that Owlcat is an independent game publisher and will not exceed its limits. They have no desire to collaborate as co-developers on these projects; instead, they want to allow the unique visions of the studios they work with to thrive unhindered. Moreover, they aim to partner with studios that are self-sufficient, capable of realizing their aspirations. In essence, Owlcat sees itself as more of a mentor or supportive companion familiar with the developmental journey for indie narrative games.

Breaking New Ground as a Publisher Already

Instead of releasing Rue Valley through a typical early access platform like Steam, Owlcat chose an innovative method for public testing by making the beta version accessible exclusively to Humble Choice subscription holders.

It appears that Rue Valley might be among the initial games to provide early access exclusively via Humble Choice. This program was introduced by Humble in mid-2024, and already Owlcat has teamed up with them for this venture. Tsvetkov shared his reasons for opting for Humble Choice as the platform for early access.

We have a really close relationship with Humble. We worked for quite a while with them and our titles–

Wrath of the Righteous
in particular
–were part of Humble Choice. We did bundles together, and we appreciate how Humble Bundle built a player base for this type of game. We talked to Humble and tried to find out how we could push this product to people. But we didn’t want to do what we were not ready to do, and so we talked to Humble and they said “Okay, well, let’s do it together. We can bring you the people who would appreciate this kind of product that will provide the relevant feedback that we need to help you shape it further.”

Through Humble’s partnership with Owlcat, Rue Valley gained access to an audience passionate about the genre of games Emotion Spark is creating. This allowed it to gather feedback directly from its target demographic rather than receiving general reviews that might not align with their specific audience requirements, as Tsvetkov detailed.

A Source of Publishing Experience

As a fan, I’d like to emphasize that while Owlcat may have a background in self-publishing, it boasts an array of skills beyond that within the publishing realm. This is evident through its lesser-known yet significant arm, Meta Publishing, which undeniably sets it apart as it ventures into narrative-driven releases.

This is a long-established brand under which we operate. They offer a variety of products available in the market, including helping us publish “Wrath of the Righteous”. While we are one unified team, this label serves as a means for us to distinguish ourselves from conventional game genres and focus on role-playing games (RPGs). Our preference lies with indie games and innovative concepts, which is why this particular brand publishes titles that may not necessarily revolve around narrative or RPG aspects but offer unique gaming experiences instead.

Under their brand, Meta has released games such as the sci-fi post-apocalyptic enigma “The Uncertain: Light at the End”, the action-adventure featuring a tiny robot named “Biped” and its cooperative sequel “Biped 2”, and the grim and brutal medieval survival game “Nested Lands”. As of now, the teams at Owlcat are actively developing “Nested Lands” and “Biped 2” under this label.

At the heart of Owlcat’s operations lies a strong emphasis on innovation and invention. This philosophy extends beyond their collaborations with Humble or their overall publishing strategy; Owlcat places great value on fresh ideas as a means to combat burnout within the gaming industry. Consequently, they are consistently on the lookout for novel concepts, not just for Owlcat, but also for Meta Publishing. As evidence of this, they have been carefully reviewing pitches from Gamescom in August, which could potentially result in additional captivating indie games being published by Owlcat, further enriching their portfolio of story-driven titles.

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2024-09-24 22:34