From Kickstarter Failure to Successfully Shipping Shujinkou

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IndieGameBusiness®

Jay Powell

460 episodes

12 hours ago

Candid conversations with veterans of all aspects of the business side of games. We firmly believe that great games from all developers need the support they deserve to succeed. This podcast exists to provide that support. IndieGameBusiness® is produced by The Powell Group, a video game consulting firm specializing in business development, marketing, and licensing. Our CEO has been in the industry for 20 years and closed countless publishing and licensing deals. The Powell Group monitors over 3,500 game developers and 750+ publishers.

Video Games

Leisure

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All content for IndieGameBusiness® is the property of Jay Powell and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Video Games

Leisure

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From Kickstarter Failure to Successfully Shipping Shujinkou | Julian Rice

IndieGameBusiness®

1 hour 2 minutes 58 seconds

1 month ago

From Kickstarter Failure to Successfully Shipping Shujinkou | Julian Rice

In this episode of IndieGameBusiness we’re joined by Julian Rice, Founder and CEO of Rice Games Inc, to talk about the long, challenging, and inspiring journey of bringing Shujinkou to life. From showing the game at Tokyo Game Show in 2019 to navigating a failed Kickstarter, Julian shares how his team overcame obstacles and kept pushing forward.

We dive into the decision to shift from a 2D platformer to a 3D first-person dungeon crawler with integrated language learning mechanics, and what sets this apart from traditional educational or “edutainment” titles. Julian explains how the team managed development across seven time zones with over 20 part-time teammates, secured Sony and Nintendo development kits without publisher backing, and grabbed enough attention from critics to land Metacritic and OpenCritic scores — a rare feat for self-published indies.

We also talk about the biggest operational challenges, the future of the Shujinkou trilogy, and Julian’s advice for aspiring developers on both the creative and logistical sides of indie development. If you’ve ever dreamed of building and shipping your own game from the ground up, this episode is full of insights and lessons you won’t want to miss.

https://x.com/ricegames

http://linkedin.com/in/julian-m-rice

https://www.facebook.com/projectshujinkou

https://instagram.com/rice.games

https://bsky.app/profile/shujinkou.com

#IndieGameBusiness #GameDevelopment #Shujinkou #IndieDev #Kickstarter #GameIndustry #SelfPublishing #RiceGames #GameLocalization #DungeonCrawler #TokyoGameShow