Back in 2012, Jonathan Blow told Joystiq that he intended on investing all of the income earned from his hit title, Braid, into his next game, The Witness. Braid had cost him $200,000 to make, and helped him to become a millionaire. As an increasing amount of people switch to current-gen consoles, the income earned from Braid has understandably decreased over time. The result? Blow has had to borrow money to fund The Witness. In other words, he’s invested his entire fortune into the game in hopes that it will sell.
In an interview with Engadget, Blow said:
Braid still sells well on platforms that are thriving, but two of Braid’s big platforms were the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, both of which are sunsetting at this point. Not so many people are buying digital games there so the Braid income is not nearly enough anymore to fund the team. I have borrowed a bunch of money to finish The Witness. So I hope when it’s done, some people buy the game.
It’s easy to see why Blow needed additional funds. The Witness started out as a relatively smaller game that would have taken about eight hours to finish. Currently, the game is 25-40 hours long, and contains 677 puzzles. This, of course, means more staff as well. Nine people are credited in full for working on the game, with eight additional contributors.
With reference to the perceived similarities between The Witness and The Talos Principle, another first-person puzzle game, Blow said:
I think these two games are ultimately about very different subjects, and were made for very different reasons, and you feel the differences when you play. That said, it is likely that someone interested in one game may be interested in the other game.
Both The Talos Principle and The Witness are scheduled for release on the PlayStation 4 in 2015. A definitive release date for either of the game has not been announced.
[Source: Engadget]
