perhaps the biggest of which was just making sure that people that are working remotely are talking to each other and actually feel like part of a larger team. “One the larger challenges that we faced as a remote-


studio, as I think most remote-studios face, is keeping communication between different disciplines in the team open and clear,” said Hill. “We noticed that somewhere in the middle of production that our comms were becoming a little siloed for different departments like art, design or tech, and that although communication was strong in any given department, communication across departments needed improvement.” Thankfully, once the issue had been brought to the


of our team members wants to do advocacy-based work that we give them the time and space to do that. For example, taking part in initiatives with Limit Break or Safe In Our World during working hours.” The studio’s heads are also firm believers that any


company should look after its employees, and Bonsai Collective puts that viewpoint into practice in as many ways as it feasibly can. “We ensure the studio offers a number of benefits to


our employees that support their wellbeing,” says Emery, “such as private healthcare with 24/7 mental health support, flexible working hours, time out for therapy and other important appointments, as well as a chair and desk package to ensure our staff ’s physical wellbeing is looked after whilst building our awesome games. “Prioritising mental health is incredibly important and


this has been key from day one. We’ve done this by leading from example. I let the team know when I have therapy appointments, if it’s during working hours and I need to use flexitime. “Growing a young studio has had its challenges,


especially as the team-size has grown, and as development has progressed. One of the main challenges is how our roles as directors have changed. The communication changes that come with that and being able to delegate responsibilities to team members. Shifting your role from being very hands-on to more managerial to achieve your studio’s goals is a learning process for sure!” The team has of course seen


several big challenges during the development of Luna Abyss and establishing a new studio,


18 | MCV/DEVELOP January 2023


attention of the co-founders it was swiftly addressed with some smart organizational changes to the way discussions were set up online. “This was a great growth point for us,” says Hill,


“because as an independent developer, we had the flexibility to rethink how we were approaching features and levels in the game. We reorganised our comms with a strike system to better reflect the multidisciplinary nature of what we are building. Now we have people discussing features together, which is 100% something we are going to carry over into our next projects.” It hasn’t been all challenges though, and Emery is keen


to share some of the things they have most enjoyed about growing their Bonsai Collective so far: “Building our team is the absolute highlight for sure, and being on this journey with so many talented developers who share our vision; whilst bringing new perspectives to help us grow. “Announcing the game was also a real highlight! Hitting


nearly a million views of that trailer and seeing the gaming community get excited about what we are building was such a special moment.” While Luna Abyss has been described as a bullet-hell


shooter, it also shares several things in common with the classic shooters from the heydey of the genre, such


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60