The New Year’s here, and if your 2022 was anything like ours, you met some challenges, you faced some setbacks, and you had some pretty cool triumphs. Sometimes you made this face o.O, sometimes you made this one –.–, and sometimes this was you :D️. You played your favorite games when you had a chance—and ultimately you achieved something worthwhile together with the help of your favorite people.
As we look forward to what 2023 has in store, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the brightest moments that the Humble Games community shared together in 2022—to help make time feel a little less slippery, and to celebrate the accomplishments of some of the most creative, awesome game developers we know.
A pretty cool kickoff
At the beginning of January 2022, award season was in full swing—and by the time everything was tallied, Witch Beam’s Unpacking, Studio Pixel Punk’s UNSIGHTED, Moonlight Kids’ The Wild at Heart, and Pocket Trap’s Dodgeball Academia had to find some room for some trophies on their shelves.
In February, Witch Beam and Unpacking were also awarded Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game at the 25th annual DICE Awards, one of the game industry’s most respected awards celebrations.
If you’re curious, check out our earlier article on all of the nominations and awards these games and developers received in 2021.
In the first part of last year, the Black Game Developer Fund—established in 2020 with a mission to identify talented game makers with a passion for their craft and a vision for compelling game concepts, and providing resources and support to help them take the next step on their journey—also announced funding for 8 new projects. Check them out over on the BDGF website.
Spring Showcase
On March 17, the luckiest day of the year, we hosted our first ever Humble Games Showcase, where we welcomed Black Mermaid’s grim and gorgeous Moonscars, Pocketwatch Games’ upcoming heist game Monaco II, Nikko Nikko’s rhythm RPG Infinite Guitars, Old Moon’s atmospheric adventure Ghost Song, and Summerfall Studios’ upcoming role-playing musical Stray Gods to the Humble Games family.
Thanks to the incredible talent, creativity, and passion of the developers we work with, in March we were also honored to be named #3 on MetaCritic’s Top Publishers of 2021 list, where we were humbled to be recognized alongside some truly incredible creative powerhouses.
On April 7, General Interactive Co.’s cybernoir adventure Chinatown Detective Agency hit the streets, sending players around the world on a trip to a neon-lit, future Singapore to unravel a global conspiracy through their own real-world research. (Check out last month’s major game update if you haven’t cracked this case yet yourself.)
That same month, Witch Beam continued their winning streak with a pair of prestigious BAFTA Game Awards for Best Narrative and EE Game of the Year, the only community-picked award at the event.
In the back half of April, Curious Panda Games invited players to command, endure, and prosper in The Iron Oath as it officially entered Early Access. Polygon said at the time that The Iron Oath “might be the next great turn-based tactics game,” and since then, the devs have been building on the community’s feedback to ensure the game lives up to its glorious potential.
May was all about celebration. On the 14th, Humble Games turned two, and around the same time, Sector D2 celebrated Project Wingman’s own one-year anniversary with an incredible live orchestral performance.
Summer of fun
As the Black Game Developer Fund marked the start of its third year last June, Humble Games welcomed one of the original BGDF members to the Humble Games publishing family—Adam Kareem and his upcoming vibrant, dynamic solarpunk 3D action platformer Protodroid DeLTA.
To help us celebrate Pride Month, the creators of Ikenfell, Temtem, Unpacking, and UNSIGHTED all shared how they approach bringing LGBTQ+ people and experiences into their own stories, worlds, and communities. Check out what they had to say.
The summer also brought players some cool behind-the-scenes insights, as NoClip invited Witch Beam over (virtually) for a fascinating deep dive into the design of Unpacking (watch it here), and Eric Jacobus (Kratos’s stuntman himself!) and his team at SuperAlloy shared a rad look at how they created the motion-captured combat of Jacob Dzwinel’s Midnight Fight Express.
Speaking of which: Midnight Fight Express officially launched on August 23, capping off the summer with some very apropos blockbuster action. (And in that spirit: GameSpot said the “hard-hitting combat is varied and gratifying!”, while ScreenRant said it’s “absolutely worth picking up and throwing down”!)
We also celebrated International Cat Day. What? We like cats.
OK, so Fall was kinda scary
The spooky vibes resonate hard with Humble Games around this time of year…
On September 23, Bounding Box Software’s gloriously gory Prodeus, “one of the best boomer shooters to come out of Early Access” (TechRaptor), officially launched, and FPS fans around the world have been fragging each other and painting the walls red in a growing heap of community-crafted maps ever since.
A few days later on September 27, Black Mermaid released their grim and gorgeous 2D souls-like slasher Moonscars, introducing players around the world to the fierce clayborne warrior Grey Irma and her quest to find the mysterious Sculptor. Learn more about the team’s creative inspiration over on the PlayStation blog, and play the game’s latest update if you haven’t had a chance to meet your maker.
One month later—just in time for Halloween—rose-engine’s survival horror game SIGNALIS was unleashed upon the world. If you’re wondering what you’re in for, rose-engine cites the works of Stanley Kubrick, Hideaki Anno, David Lynch, and the masters of cosmic horror literature among their inspiration—while Polygon said it’s “a near pitch-perfect ode to Resident Evil and Silent Hill,” and Inverse called it “the best horror game of 2022.”
In early November, Old Moon’s atmosphere 2D metroidvania-inspired Ghost Song awakened. A nearly decade-long labor of love by creator Matt White, Ghost Song tells the tale of a long-dormant Deadsuit roused from slumber on a distant moon filled with monstrosities and mysteries—pick it up if you’re looking for something that “will take you on a journey that will amaze and surprise you” (Noisy Pixel).
Luckily, some other developers brought some brighter balance to offset the scares…
After years in development with their community’s feedback, Crema’s massively multiplayer creature-collection adventure Temtem officially launched on September 6—and reached an awesome milestone of 1 million players later that month! Season 2 kicked off in December, and if you haven’t ventured into the Airborne Archipelago, now’s a great time to check it out and get this song stuck in your head for eternity.
On October 11, Stairway Games’ vibrant reimagined farm sim Coral Island officially entered Early Access, and players around the world started building their dream farms, making friends, finding romance, and living their bestest life. But the team at Stairway is just getting started—and if you want to be part of the community helping shape the future of Coral Island, you’re more than welcome to join.
Wrapping up one year, unwrapping a new one
As 2022 wound down, Witch Beam’s Unpacking reached an incredible milestone of more than 1 million copies sold, and the team unveiled a new line of pins, apparel, and other collectibles in collaboration with the folks at Serenity Forge.
In other cool collab news, we worked with 8 different developers and a roster of talented musicians to bring you a free album full of awesome music—the Humble Lofi Winter Mix—featuring remixed tracks from recent releases and upcoming games. Listen on YouTube below or spin it up on Spotify when you need a little chill break this year.
If you’re looking to follow more musical muses, the Stray Gods team and composer Austin Wintory took us behind the scenes of their sessions with the Orchestra Victoria—listen in for just a sample of what’s to come in Summerfall Studios’ upcoming role-playing musical.
And as one year comes to a close, we’re just getting started on another year of fun. Nikko Nikko’s Infinite Guitars is just around the corner, and when the time is right, we can’t want to show you more of Mineko’s Night Market, Stray Gods, Monaco II, Protodroid DeLTA, and all of the other games from the awesome devs we have the pleasure to work with.
Thank you to everyone who’s been part of this journey so far—we can’t wait for what the New Year holds!
