Bryant Francis, Senior Editor at Game Developer reached out to NEARstudios Co-Founder and CEO, Heather Cerlan and Co-Founder and Game Director, Jason Richardson to learn more their motivations for running a Kickstarter campaign for the game Hawthorn.

Here are the highlights from the article:

  • In 2024 NEARstudios—another indie studio founded by triple-A devs—surfaced with a pitch for cozy woodland RPG Hawthorn.
  • After scoring 200k Steam wishlists, the team committed to a pivot to Kickstarter—picking player funding over investor cash.
  • Co-Founders Heather Cerlan and Jason Richardson say this is their path forward in a turbulent industry.

View the Game Developer article in full here!

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