- Roguelike action game morbid metal released earlier this week after nine years of development
- Published by Ubisoft, the game began as a university project by Felix Schade.
- “Slowly but surely we grew into the 11th developer team we are now,” he explained.
Screen Juice released the roguelike action game published by Ubisoft morbid metal earlier this week as 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 university project and the story of how he founded a studio that now has 11 people on the long road to its 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 an internship, and I always knew I wanted to eventually start my own studio if possible, but I was still young and had never done a full game.”
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At the time, he set out to make “a little game” to start his career and serve as a portfolio piece to attract potential employers.
Although the final release has a brave sci-fi art direction, Schade’s original vision was very different. “I came up with this idea based on what I was preparing for my college application, which was like an origami-themed game where you can fold your piece of paper into different origami figures, each with their own unique abilities,” he said.
“It was a very slow pace compared to what morbid metal is now.”
The shapeshifting system remains a core mechanic in the current version, but it was refined over several years along with a complete transformation in the overall art direction.
How it started and how it’s going #indiegame #madewithunity #roguelike pic.twitter.com/N5rbiiesx9October 16, 2024
Data shows that over 20,000 games were released on Steam in 2025 alone, and getting attention for small projects like this is always a big challenge. Fortunately, Schade benefited from strong word of mouth after posting screenshots and clips of early versions on social media.
“In mid-fall 2020, I was at a point where I was taking this seriously, so I left my master’s program and really focused on morbid metal, taking it full time,” he explained.
“I started posting online and got some good feedback. There was also one particular post on Reddit that got a lot of attention, a couple million views, which really opened the door to a lot of people and also got a lot of publishers interested in the game.”
This caught the attention of Ubisoft, who were eager to publish the game. “Once Ubisoft signed the publishing deal with me, it was time to hire people,” he continued. “In fact, that was exactly three years ago, and we slowly grew into the 11th developer team we are now.”
Reflecting on the experience, Schade described feeling “very relieved” by that initial burst of attention. “I didn’t really expect it because I was hanging around in my room for a couple of years and I didn’t show it to anyone but my parents,” she said.
With the game now officially released in early access for PC, he’s eager to continue hearing what people have to say about the game. “We just launched early access for a good reason. Back then, 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 giving morbid metal Once, you can currently get the game on Steam for the price of just $13.49 / £11.99 / AU$20.21 thanks to a limited-time 25% launch discount.
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