I’m curious as to how Hentschke feels the pandemic has impacted indie game development in the long-term.
“I honestly dont see how it couldnt,” he replies.
“Even before things shut down, remote work was becoming the new norm for indies.
And I mean indies.
Not the AA games with million dollar budgets dressed up as indie for marketing kudos.
I mean the dev teams made up of a handful of friends that met on Discord.
Hentschke is, I quickly come to realise, a compelling evangelist on the subject of remote working.
“And is anyone really surprised?”
“I work best at night.
How can I expect my employees to keep a daytime schedule when Im the one doing paperwork at 2am?
“You just have to double-check your pipeline and incentive structure is set up for it.
And on top of that, why the hell would we demonize people being comfortable?”
“Horror audiences are voracious for content.
New stuff or sequels, they just want more.
“Horror is the genre for dreamers,” Hentschke continues, an observation I find unexpectedly self-affirming.
“What exactly is scary?
Thats what were here to explore.
If you dont like one experiment, then theres six to 11 more for you to try out.
Its the perfect package for horror fanatics.”
So has the way DreadXP recruit developers changed over the course of several anthologies?
There’s a lot of freedom creative and otherwise offered to each participating dev.
Other than that, its all up to the dev.”
“What do we do after a movie makes us scream?
We laugh,” Hentschke says.
“Theres a reason most prank shows are just a compilation of people being startled.
Horror is raw emotion.
To just have one without the other would lead to a very flat and dry product.
You need some absurdity to break up the tension.
Humour is the best way to do that.
On the other side of the coin, you need some tragedy to add some weight to the silliness.
Horror is a great backdrop to seat those heavier themes.”
My next question pertains to theMy Friendly Neighborhooddemo I recently enjoyed so much.
It’s DreadXP’s first venture into publishing something completely unconnected with the Dread X Collections.
“Dread Delusionwas part ofThe Haunted PS1 Demo Disc, but not a [Dread X] collection.
We also recently signedThe Mortuary Assistantby Darkstone Digital.
Aside from that we have a few unannounced projects in the works.
I feel a bit like a proud aunt at this point.
DreadXP is well on its way to becoming an indie horror publishing powerhouse.
You might even say it’s there already.
Hentschke’s enthusiastic response is extremely welcome.
So expect more news on the second (and third) date soon!”
A second romantic outing with my latest dating sim sweetheart, Cthulhu-presenting anime girl Ln’eta!
I’m genuinely thrilled at the news.
