The Thomas Brush Show How He Sold 1.6 Million Copies Of His New Game (w/ Thomas Mahler) — Ep 62
Mar 26, 2026
Thomas Mahler, game director and Moon Studios co-founder behind Ori, shares the wild journey of No Rest for the Wicked. He recounts a publisher buyback, a rescue via a free weekend that sparked massive sales, and the custom engines and tooling that shaped the art and level design. He also discusses balancing systems, long-term maintainability, and practical uses for AI in development.
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Buying Back A Game Risked Everything
- Thomas Mahler bought No Rest for the Wicked back from its publisher after Private Division shut down and took on the financial risk himself.
- He paid a large sum to regain publishing rights and then scrambled to fund and finish the game while shouldering studio burn rate.
Push A Genre Forward Instead Of Re-Skinning
- Be willing to change a genre and trust designers to take risks rather than just iterate on safe formulas.
- Mahler compares choosing radical change to Miyamoto shifting Mario to 3D, urging courage to advance genres.
Improve Core Mechanics To Elevate A Genre
- Moon Studios intentionally improves core mechanics rather than copying classics, aiming to evolve genres through focused design changes.
- Example: Ori improved platforming fidelity to make Metroidvanias control more like Mario and to elevate the genre.
