The Thomas Brush Show How To Make Indie Games In 2026 w/ Jonathan Blow — Full Time Game Dev Podcast Ep. 061
Dec 31, 2025
Jonathan Blow, the mastermind behind iconic indie games like Braid and The Witness, shares insights on creating games in 2026. He discusses the challenges of marketing amid the crowded internet landscape and how pricing pressures have evolved. Blow emphasizes the importance of choosing the right platform, notably Steam, for indie success. He reveals his ambitious 10-year project, Order of the Sinking Star, describing the need for a custom programming language and engine to enhance workflow and artistic vision. His thoughts on the future of AI in game development complete this enlightening conversation.
AI Snips
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Transcript
Episode notes
Use Publishers For Promotion And Funding
- Partner with a publisher if you need promotion muscle and completion funding to avoid your game getting lost online.
- Let the publisher run marketing so you can focus on polishing gameplay and finishing the project.
Ten Years Multiplies Budget Exponentially
- Long development multiplies budget needs dramatically; a modest annual burn becomes huge over a decade.
- Blow illustrates this with a rough $3M/year example leading to tens of millions over many years.
Braid's Low‑Budget Origins
- Jonathan Blow recounts Braid's original budget around $220,000 in 2008 while based in San Francisco.
- He contrasts that era's affordability with today's much higher costs for similar projects.