- Roguelike action game Sick metal launched earlier this week after nine years of development
- Published by Ubisoft, the game started life as a university project by Felix Schade
- “We slowly but surely grew to the 11 developer team we are now,” he explained
Screen Juice launched the Ubisoft-published roguelike action game Sick 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 described the game’s origins as a university project and the story of how he founded a now 11-person studio on the long road to release.
“It all started when I was in university, I was 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 start my own studio if possible, but I was still young and had never made a full game.”
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At that time, he set out to make “a little game” to launch his career and serve as a portfolio to entice potential employers.
Although the final release has a rough sci-fi art direction, Schade’s original vision was very different. “I came up with this idea based on what I was preparing for the university application, which was kind of like an origami-themed game where you fold your piece of paper into different origami figures, each with their own unique skills,” he said.
“It was very slow compared to what Sick metal is now.”
The shapeshifting system remains a core mechanic in the current release, but was refined over a number of years along with a total transformation in the overall art direction.
How it started vs how it goes #indiegame #madewithunity #roguelike pic.twitter.com/N5rbiiesx916 October 2024
Data shows that more than 20,000 games were released on Steam in 2025 alone, and getting small projects like this noticed is always a big challenge. Fortunately, Schade enjoyed strong word of mouth after posting screenshots and clips of early builds on social media.
“In mid-to-fall 2020, I was actually at the point where I was taking this seriously now, so I stopped my master’s degree and really concentrated on morbid metal, taking it full time,” he explained.
“I started writing online and I got good feedback for it. There was also this one particular Reddit post that got a lot of attention, a few 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, with the French gaming giant eager to publish the game. “Once Ubisoft signed the publishing contract with me, it was time to hire people,” he continued. “It was actually pretty much exactly three years ago and we slowly but surely grew to the 11 developer team we are now.”
After reflecting on the experience, Schade described being “so relieved” by the initial burst of attention. “I didn’t really expect it because I was just messing around in my bedroom for a couple of years and didn’t really show anyone but my parents,” he said.
With the game now officially released on PC early access, he’s eager to continue listening to what people have to say about the game. “We just started early access for good reason. Back then the feedback was so 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 about it and what they don’t like about it.”
If you are interested in giving Sick metal once, you can currently get the game on Steam for just $13.49 / £11.99 / AU$20.21 thanks to a limited time 25% launch discount.
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