What it's actually like to release a game in 2025 (Joel Burgess)

"It's such a climate of fear ... that well-meaning advice pushes teams towards, 'You should copy the thing that came before that is more successful'"

This episode is a bit unusual. I’m chatting with a talented game developer who also happens to be a friend. I’ve known Joel Burgess for many years, dating back to his time helping to design open-world RPGs for AAA studios.

He currently serves as the Studio Head of the indie studio Soft Rains, which has been busy preparing the debut of its first game. Ambrosia Sky is a sci-fi immersive sim in which you play as a death cleaner. Picture Powerwash Simulator spliced with BioShock, and then add the NYTimes obituaries, and you’re not far off. This week, Ambrosia Sky: Act 1 hits Steam.

What does it feel like to launch a video game, particularly as the head of a studio, responsible for not just the success of the game but the business? The stress. The joy. The mixed sense of finishing one race, and in the current age of DLC, updates, and additional acts, starting another marathon.

This week on Post Games: what it’s actually like to release a video game in 2025.

• Act 1: The chaos of making a video game in the 2020s

• Act 2: The moments before pressing publish

• Patreon bonus: How Joel’s dog inspired the look and soul of Dogmeat in Fallout 4

• Act 3: News of the week

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Image: Ambrosia Sky

Act 1: The chaos of making a video game in the 2020s

• Ambrosia Sky: Act 1 (Steam)

• Games about death improve our lives, with Ambrosia Sky’s Kaitlyn Tremblay (Post Games)

• Bloodrayne 2 (Steam)

• Fallout 4 (Steam)

• Watch Dogs Legion (Steam)

• Grindstone (Steam)

• The History of TI Graphing Calculator Gaming (This Does Not Compute)

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Image: Ambrosia Sky

Act 2: The moments before pressing publish

• Ambrosia Sky Is A Narrative-Driven Game That Mixes FPS Action With Sci-Fi Power Washing (Game Informer)

• The State of Video Game Financing in 2025 (Naavik)

• Video Game Makers Turn Back to Kickstarter in Tough Funding Climate (Bloomberg)

• Are ‘unreasonable investor expectations’ the cause of poor video game market conditions? (Game Developer)

• The video game funding gap: How investors are failing marginalized developers (Polygon)

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Image: Fallout 4

Patreon bonus: How Joel’s dog inspired the look and soul of Dogmeat in Fallout 4

And what he wishes he’d known before co-founding a video game studio.

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Image: Evil Egg

Act 3: News of the week

• Egg (Terry Cavanagh on itch.io)

• Evil Egg (Steam)

• Fortnite’s The Simpsons season is a worthy tribute to one of the most celebrated shows of all time (The Guardian)