Curve Digital to Publish Indie Exploration titles Stranded and Spirit on Steam
Curve Digital has announced it will be publishing Peter Moorhead’s Stranded and Holden Boyles’ Spirit on PC this year. The games mark the fourth and fifth PC releases for the developer-turned-publisher, but also demonstrate renewed focus on PC publishing and the Steam platform.
Jason Perkins, Curve Digital Managing Director said: “When we first self-published our own game, Stealth Bastard, on Steam less than two years ago, there were four other indie games out that week. Now it’s rare that you’ll see less than four every single day. Discoverability and noise are becoming a real issue on Steam, and a publisher like Curve with experience working with indie teams has the experience and knowledge to help solve those problems for developers.”
Curve Digital are well known for bringing popular PC indie titles like Thomas Was Alone to PlayStation, but Spirit and Stranded mark the publisher’s first PC only releases.
Stranded is an exploration adventure game that allows players to assume the role of an astronaut exploring the mysterious sun-blasted wasteland of an alien planet. An immersive love letter to classic point and click adventure games, the games gives players the freedom to discover a story told through art and environment. Stranded was originally available on the Humble store, but is being brought to Steam by Curve.
Another title focused around exploration but with a vastly different setting and theme, Holden Boyles’ Spirit put players in the atypical shoes of a retiree living in a remote mountain village. Spirit was recently the focus of a Kickstarter campaign that doubled its original target. Boyles commented: “The world of indie game development is fairly new to me, but I’ve grown to understand the importance of representation in all creative industries. Turning publishing into a team effort rather than a solo mission is just vital.”
Rob Clarke, PR and Marketing Manager at Curve Digital added: “’Publisher’ used to be seen as a dirty word, but I think more and more developers are starting to see the advantages of working with a publisher who understands the indie world. Simply releasing on Steam is no longer the guaranteed success that it once was, and having a dedicated team behind your game can make a huge difference.”
Stranded is due to be released on May 20th; Spirit will be out later in 2014. Both titles will be available for Mac, Linux and Windows and be available through Steam as well as other popular download stores.
