- Rogue-like action game Morbid metal launched earlier this week after nine years of development
- Published by Ubisoft, the game began as a university project by Felix Schade
- “We slowly but surely became the 11th developer team that we are today,” he explained.
Screen Juice launched the roguelike action game published by Ubisoft Morbid metal earlier this week, the culmination of nine years of work led by developer Felix Schade.
Speaking to TechRadar Gaming at a recent event, Schade detailed the game’s origins as a college project and the story of how he founded an 11-person studio on the long road to release.
“It all started when I was in college, studying game design,” he began. “It was a semester where we could do our own project or internship, and I always knew I wanted to eventually start my own studio if possible, but I was still young and had never made a full game.”
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At the time, he decided to create “a little game” to start his career and serve as a portfolio to attract potential employers.
Although the final version had a realistic science fiction art direction, Schade’s original vision was very different. “I had this idea based on what I was preparing for my college application, which was kind of like an origami-themed game where you can fold your piece of paper into different origami figures, each with their own unique skills,” he said.
“It was very slow compared to what Morbid metal It’s now.”
The shapeshifting system remains a core mechanic in the current version, but has been refined over several years alongside a complete transformation of the overall art direction.
How it started and how it’s going #indiegame #madewithunity #roguelike pic.twitter.com/N5rbiiesx9October 16, 2024
Data shows that more than 20,000 games were released on Steam in 2025 alone, and keeping tabs on small projects like this is always a big challenge. Fortunately, Schade enjoyed strong word of mouth after posting screenshots and clips of early versions on social media.
“By mid-fall of 2020, I was actually at the point where I was taking this seriously now, so I stopped my master’s program and really focused on Morbid metal, I take it full time,” he explained.
“I started posting online and got some good feedback. There was also this particular post on Reddit that got a lot of attention, a few million views, which really opened the door for a lot of people and got a lot of publishers interested in the game as well.”
This caught the attention of Ubisoft, with the French video game giant eager to publish the game. “Once Ubisoft signed the publishing contract with me, it was time to hire staff,” he continued. “That was almost exactly three years ago, actually, and we’ve slowly but surely grown into the eleventh dev team we are today.”
Reflecting on the experience, Schade described being “so relieved” at that first burst of attention. “I didn’t really expect it because I was just dabbling in my room for a few years and I didn’t really show it to anyone other than my parents,” he said.
With the game now officially out on PC in Early Access, he’s looking forward to continuing to hear what people have to say about the game. “We just launched Early Access for a reason. At the time, the feedback was very valuable, and it still is,” he added.
“We want to make a really cool and fun game for players, and for that we just need to know what they like and what they don’t like.”
If you are interested in donating Morbid metal right off the bat, you can currently get the game on Steam for just $13.49 / £11.99 / AU$20.21 thanks to a limited-time 25% introductory discount.
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