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For former AAA developers Justin Fischer, Brock Feldman, Murray Pannell and Phil O’Connor, going indie was a way to keep making games and gain more control after studio setbacks. It was not a promise of greater financial security: their new teams have accepted lower pay and are relying on limited, uncertain funding. Their choices show how independence can feel less risky when the alternative is an unpredictable employer—but that is a personal calculation, not proof that indie development is safer overall.
Why experienced developers are leaving large studios
The moves described in GamesIndustry.biz’s October 5, 2026 report grew out of both necessity and ambition. Airlock Games’ founders, Justin Fischer and Brock Feldman, formed the studio after Player First Games was shuttered in 2025. Murray Pannell and Phil O’Connor started Big Dumb Games with collaborators at the beginning of 2026, after their previous studio was put on ice. Closures and stalled projects can abruptly end established jobs; the developers also wanted greater say over what they made.
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That combination matters: independence is not always a planned leap from a secure, satisfying role. For these developers, it was a response to an industry in which a studio’s future can be outside an employee’s control, and a chance to choose a project and team themselves.
What the two teams are making—and why scope matters
| Studio | Project | Approach described in the report |
|---|---|---|
| Airlock Games | What the Stars Forgot, a sci-fi horror management sim | Fischer said the team is keeping the project small enough to finish and ship, rather than pursuing the budget required for a very large multiplayer game. |
| Big Dumb Games | Starship Bloopers, a co-op space survival game | The report describes a small team working without funding, with grants or a small seed investment considered as possible support. |
For a small studio, scope is a financial decision as much as a creative one. A game that demands years of development, a large team or expensive multiplayer infrastructure can require substantial capital before it earns revenue. Choosing something the founders believe they can complete with available resources reduces the amount they need to raise and the time they must sustain themselves without a release. It does not guarantee that the game will sell, but it can limit how much must go right before the team can ship.
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How the founders are financing the move
The two teams’ reported situations are different, and neither should be read as a general funding blueprint. Airlock’s founders said they planned to make the game without outside investment, relying on severance; a reproduction of the report says the project’s Kickstarter raised more than $25,000, but does not establish the campaign date. Big Dumb Games was described as unfunded and relying on founders’ savings, with grants and small seed investment as possibilities. These are interview accounts, not audited financial statements.
Those sources—severance, savings, crowdfunding, grants or seed funding—each have limits. Severance is finite, savings put personal finances at risk, crowdfunding depends on audience support and delivery, and grants or investment are not assured. Without disclosed budgets, burn rates, salaries or runway, it is not possible to compare how long either team can operate or whether either project is financially viable.
What “less risky” means in this story
O’Connor framed the choice as being “masters of our own fate” rather than depending on an industry he described as an unreliable partner. That is a claim about agency: founders can select the project, set its scope and make more decisions directly. Fischer similarly said, “We can’t control what the publisher scene looks like, but we can control what we’re making.”
Control is not the same as security. Going independent transfers more responsibility to the founders: they may have less predictable income, bear more direct financial exposure and need to find funding, reach players and deliver the game. Fischer noted that user-acquisition costs are difficult for everybody. The report offers no measured comparison showing that indie work is safer, more profitable or more stable than AAA employment.
Pannell described the personal trade-off plainly: “It’s been probably one of the most rewarding years of my life, albeit probably the least financially rewarding.” The account captures why developers may choose the path despite its economic uncertainty: creative ownership and the satisfaction of building a team can be valuable even when earnings are weak.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What other developers can take from their choices
The examples are most useful as a way to think through trade-offs, not as a guarantee that a similar move will work. Before leaving a job or forming a studio, a developer can assess:
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- Scope: Is the game small enough for the team and funding it can realistically secure?
- Funding and runway: Which money is already available, how long might it last, and what happens if expected grants, investment or crowdfunding do not arrive?
- Personal exposure: How much income or savings are the founders willing and able to put at risk?
- Control: Which decisions will founders retain, and what obligations might come with a publisher or investor?
- Route to players: How will the team reach an audience, given that user acquisition is a challenge rather than a solved problem?
- Fallbacks: What will the founders do if development takes longer than planned or the game does not earn enough to sustain the studio?
In these interviews, independence appears less risky in one specific sense: it gives developers more control than relying on a studio or publisher whose decisions they cannot determine. It remains financially uncertain, and the right choice depends on each team’s resources, obligations and appetite for risk.
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