Skull Island: Unveiling the Truth Behind Bad Reviews - Developers Finally Address Concerns

Highlights

Skull Island: Rise of Kong was developed in just one year, which contributed to its poor quality and negative reception.

The team faced challenges in creating a high-quality game due to the game's tight budget and the limited information provided by the publisher. Negative feedback on this release may potentially harm IguanaBee's reputation and future funding opportunities.

The team responsible for the recently launched and poorly received Skull Island: Rise of Kong have addressed the negative reception, revealing that the game was only in development for one year. Released on October 17, Skull Island: Rise of Kong follows a young King Kong on a mission to avenge his parents' death. He traverses the island, evolving from a vulnerable orphan to a formidable ape, in search of the island's dominant predator, Gaw.

Even before Skull Island: Rise of Kong was officially released, images and clips from the game started circulating on social media. Unfortunately, none of the accompanying captions were positive; instead, they predominantly ridiculed or expressed disbelief at the game's quality. To put it succinctly, the game appeared to belong to the PS2 era and was deemed a contender for the title of Worst Game of 2023, rivaling The Lord of the Rings: Gollum. As of now, Rise of Kong has only garnered 57 reviews on Steam, maintaining a Mostly Negative rating.

The Verge spoke with developers at IguanaBee in Santiago, Chile, who revealed that Skull Island: Rise of Kong had a short development time and limited budget. The game's development began in June 2022 and faced time crunches starting in February 2023, with a target completion date of June 2023. The game was published by GameMill, a company known for quickly producing games through contracts with small indie developers. This practice often compromises quality, even for skilled workers. A former IguanaBee employee, who didn't work on Skull Island but had experience with other GameMill titles, stated that the team frequently lacked necessary information, leading to frustration and improvisation with limited resources.

The limited budget had a significant impact on successfully completing projects. GameMill did not allocate enough funds to retain experienced staff, resulting in colleagues being laid off despite their longevity on the team. A fellow IguanaBee developer shared this anecdote, stating, "Deep down, I knew it was because the publisher didn’t provide them with enough funding to maintain a certain number of people for an extended period."

Although it may not be apparent, the development team at IguanaBee has the capability to create exceptional games. In March 2022, they collaborated with developer Studio Voyager and publisher Untold Tales to produce What Lies in the Multiverse, an award-winning puzzle platformer that currently holds a Very Positive rating on Steam. Unfortunately, a game like Skull Island: Rise of Kong will have detrimental effects on IguanaBee's reputation, reducing the likelihood of receiving funding for future projects they desire to create. Instead, the developer will have to continue accepting contracts from GameMill and other publishers solely interested in licensed games.

Skull Island: Rise of Kong is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Source: The Verge