Why It Took Subset Games So Long to Make a Game After ‘FTL’

Nobody expected  FTL, a hardcore roguelike where players try (and usually fail) to guide a spaceship back to headquarters, to be such a massive success, especially not  FTL developer Subset Games. It’s been more than four years since  FTL was released, but it was only two weeks ago that Subset Games got around to announcing their next game, the mech-and-monsters  Into the Breach.

Subset Games has kept busy, though.  FTL: Advanced Edition, released as a free update in April 2014, brought new mechanics and complexity to  FTL, and the game was ported to iPad.

And while it might be hard to remember, the final months of  FTL‘s development were funded by a Kickstarter campaign way back in February 2012, not long after Double Fine helped put the service on the map for video game fans. They asked for $10,000, but ended up with $200,542.

“Having a successful project has changed a number of things,” said Subset Games co-founder and  FTL designer Justin Ma, during a recent email interview. “Being able to self-fund means we can take our time and maintain better work-life balance compared to  FTL‘s development. However, it brings new stress, too. We went through a period of a ‘sophomoric slump’ where we were a bit paralyzed figuring out what game to work on next.”

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