Around three years ago, we were forced to cancel the multi-million dollar ‘Earth No More’ project. The team of 40 was mostly disbanded, but the stubborn of us went on. We experimented with the Unity3D engine and developed a prototype game that was an instant hit among publishers. We signed a deal for ‘Rochard’ with SOE for a PS3 exclusive version, which we could later port to other platforms and publish ourselves. We took on a lot of debt for the project in early June 2010 and started production at full steam. There were around 20 guys working in-house on the project in addition to the external audio, QA and localization staff.
Rochard was supposed to be released on PSN Store during late spring 2011. We were a bit behind schedule since it was the first game ever developed for PS3 using Unity3D. There was quite a buzz around the game and everything looked good. A release date was set for late May. The pre-production of a sequel was started.
Then PSN Store got hacked and shattered to little pieces. This is where things started going wrong. Further funding was not available and the release date was postponed to late September. Layoffs were inevitable, but a small group went on to port and polish the game further for Steam and the Mac App Store platforms.
When the game finally became available on PSN Store on September 27th 2011, there was not enough buzz for it to sell despite it being IGN Editors’ Choice and getting other great awards. We had no funds to do any marketing ourselves, so there was no choice but to rush the PC version to Steam despite the bad market timing. The PC Steam version was launched on November 15th, 2011. Media coverage was minimal as the seasonal big titles had been released during the past four weeks. Our bad luck had turned worse due to our lack of resources. We had made a great game that we did not know how to sell.
There are seven guys (and a lot of debt) left in the company. We were about to give up with Rochard, but we were given an opportunity to release a boxed version of the game with Nordic Games GmbH and participate in the Humble Bundle. Now that’s been done, it’s time to give Rochard the fame it deserves. A DLC and a sequel are definitely in our plans.
We’d like to thank Unity3D for their awesome Linux support, and Humble Bundle for keeping the dream alive! We’d also like to thank everyone who has bought Rochard already!
Cheers,
The Rochard Team
P.S. Meanwhile, we’ve been developing a self-funded iOS/Android game since late January, 2012. More about that soon!
Rochard was a highly enjoyable game! I was actually part of the team testing it on Linux for the HIB, and bought the Bundle today when it was released. Well done! I hope the Bundle serves you well and gets you what you need to keep developing.
Anyway, a quick question: I finally finished Rochard earlier today and I had been curious about how many bonus icon things I had picked up over the course of the game, compared to how many were available (and maybe about the total time spent as well), but there was never an end-of-game status screen. Is that something that maybe got missed on the Linux version, or is that just not present in the game in general?
Thanks regardless, definitely enjoyed it.
Thanks for testing and the feedback!
The gold collectibles are there for trophies/achievements, which in turn are available on PSN and Steam versions. Mac Game Center will be supported at some point. Perhaps we should implement a web interface for the achievements.
Ah, gotcha. If you were willing to start mucking around in the game again, personally I’d just prefer a simple in-game screen to show how much I’ve found (and more importantly how much I’ve missed), ideally in each level. If it were on the web, it’s pretty doubtful that I’d ever actually look at it. Anyway, once again: thanks for the game!
I bought Rochard in the Humble Indie Bundle #6! One of my favorites next to Torchlight… Awesome game that runs smoothly on my laptop (something that some “professional” game studios can’t do with their games o_O).
Graphics and gameplay are great and the music sets the theme of the game right. I really understand your frustation as this game deserves more attention!
Congratz guys! I know how hard it was for you to get this out, but man, it’s an awesome game!
Stay awesome and don’t lose hope!
Will you guys be adding a key for the Steam Soundtrack? You already provided a DRM free copy, but i would prefer having it on my Steam account. Plus the only way to get it is to buy the entire game all over again on Steam. Thanks for reading.
We will have a look at this. It depends on Steam 3′s flexibility.
Thanks a lot for the reply. Even if you don’t provide free Steam copies a way to actually buy it on Steam without buying the entire game again would be nice. Good luck with the bundle!
Also, if you don’t mind me asking what’s Steam 3?
Congratulation guys for this great game! I wish sucess for all you! and thaks for porting to Linux
PS: Continue lauching games in Linux, Please.
Thanks! We are now developing mobile (touchscreen) content, but the DLC (or possible sequel) for Rochard will be launched on Linux as well.
I saw a video about this game in relation to the unity player a few month ago and thought I have to have this game.
What a luck they included it in the indie bundle VI.
I am waiting for a 2nd part.
I just finished Rochard a little while ago. This is definitely one of the most fun games I’ve played in a while! I’m very intrigued by the story and can’t wait to see a sequel released (I’m a PC gamer — need any beta testers?
). Fantastic job; you’ve earned a fan!
waiting still for part 2 pleeeeeeeeeeeeease
I came here after I saw that Rochard was in the Humble Bundle. I was a little surprised to see it in there; it is a much higher calibre game than one would expect to see in the bundle. I assumed Rochard was a huge hit. Just bad luck unfortunately.
I’m sure after the Humble Bundle expires you will see a spike in regular sales thanks to word of mouth. If you make a sequel, and don’t run into such bad luck again, the sales of the first game will probably see a resurgence as well.
You could always try this site to boost revenue and awareness:
http://www.indiegamestand.com
Good luck!
Thanks! We are working hard to boost the sales and seeking new platforms for porting the game.
Desura (www.desura.com) would be a great place to sell. There are lots of Linux users using Desura and they are just itching to get their hands on some great games.
I’m sad to see the game didn’t work out for you financially.
I bought it as soon as it was out on Steam, and I rather liked it. It’s a charming and fun game, and certainly deserves to find an audience.
You can count me in for any upcoming DLC or sequel, and I’m certainly looking forward to whatever you do next (except iOS/Android titles, since I don’t own any of the platforms).
Best of luck for the future.
Bought Rochard in the Bundle. Its an absolute gem. Thanks for your hard work! You have made one more loyal customer. Can’t wait to see your upcoming projects!
Thanks!
I love puzzle platformers and bought Rochard for PC on Steam back in December after reading IGN’s rave review. Also jumped on the Humble Indie Bundle 6. Simply an awesome game!
Came here today after seeing today’s news article on Rochard at http://www.indiegamemag.com and I am sorry to hear of your financial struggles. Have you guys thought about doing a Kickstarter project to help secure funding for Rochard 2?? I would back it for sure and I could see many others jumping on the bandwagon as well. Some kind of in-game exclusive reward(s) for backers would make it extra sweet as well. Something to think about as an option??
Yes, this is an option. It’s not straightforward though — it may not be a legal way of raising money for a Finnish company. This could be circumvented by establishing a foreign company..
That’s pretty lame on the part of the Finnish government if you ask me. Crowdfunding is one of the best new things to come to the world of gaming and helps spur innovation. Some games get a chance to be realized, whereas they might not even exist without programs such as Kickstarter.
It’s a shame that Rochard didn’t got attention it deserved… There are things that could be done better, bo generally – the game is realy good.
Hope Your mobile game will succeed and the Humble Bundle sale will allow You to make a sequel.
I ended up buying the bundle twice (One for me and one for a friend who was interested in Linux) and I love the game. Sorry to hear that your struggling to find funds for part 2 as the game really needs one after the ending. I hope things won’t turn out as the Split/Second game (Great racing game, left an ending that screams a sequel but Black Rock games was closed down before the game could get green lit.) . On the bright side, at least you have bragging right for being the first Unity 3D game to premier on Linux.
Good to hear there may be more to come but very sorry to hear about all the set backs. It’s a fun game with a great score which deserved to do very well. Look forward to seeing what the iOS game is.
Another happy Linux gamer!
Just finished the game. Great work!
Eric