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Thomas Mahler on the Evolution of Moon Studios & No Rest for the Wicked

Thomas Mahler, co-founder of Moon Studios, shares insights on No Rest for the Wicked, the success of Ori, and the evolving landscape of game development. He opens up about the challenges of early access, the importance of critique in gaming, and how social media impacts developers, and all of us in life. It was a pleasure to get some insight from Mahler on these topics and how Moon Studios has evolved since it began.(00:00) Introduction(01:00) Pipe Tease for No Rest for the Wicked(01:40) Success of Moon Studios(03:45) Early Access W or L?(05:15) Feedback Forums(06:30) Social Media(07:25) Social Media Fatigue(08:50) Ori Creation vs Today(10:50) Accessibility vs Difficulty(13:10) Ori 3?(14:30) Cheats in Games(17:20) AAA Missing The Message(23:00) Starcraft Art Process(25:00) Yellow Paint(27:00) Where should Art Go?(28:40) Critique Should Be Allowed(30:00) How Hardware Should Evolve(34:19) How No Rest For the Wicked Changed(38:14) Making Money vs Making GAMES(43:20) Philosophy of Devs & Gamers(44:22) What Happened to Game Budgets(46:40) No Rest Inspirations(49:00) Microsoft Approaching Moon(49:47) THAT Kotaku Story & The Changes It Created(58:10) No Rest For the Wicked Updates

Broadcast on:
10 Mar 2025

Thomas Mahler, co-founder of Moon Studios, shares insights on No Rest for the Wicked, the success of Ori, and the evolving landscape of game development. He opens up about the challenges of early access, the importance of critique in gaming, and how social media impacts developers, and all of us in life. It was a pleasure to get some insight from Mahler on these topics and how Moon Studios has evolved since it began.(00:00) Introduction(01:00) Pipe Tease for No Rest for the Wicked(01:40) Success of Moon Studios(03:45) Early Access W or L?(05:15) Feedback Forums(06:30) Social Media(07:25) Social Media Fatigue(08:50) Ori Creation vs Today(10:50) Accessibility vs Difficulty(13:10) Ori 3?(14:30) Cheats in Games(17:20) AAA Missing The Message(23:00) Starcraft Art Process(25:00) Yellow Paint(27:00) Where should Art Go?(28:40) Critique Should Be Allowed(30:00) How Hardware Should Evolve(34:19) How No Rest For the Wicked Changed(38:14) Making Money vs Making GAMES(43:20) Philosophy of Devs & Gamers(44:22) What Happened to Game Budgets(46:40) No Rest Inspirations(49:00) Microsoft Approaching Moon(49:47) THAT Kotaku Story & The Changes It Created(58:10) No Rest For the Wicked Updates