Lethal Company dev thinking updates should be "bigger and less frequent" and "like I broke into an alien zoo"
With viral hit Lethal Company now on sale—30% off on Steam until February 15—developer Zeekerss is taking the occasion to reconsider the pace and scope of Lethal Company updates. "I have version 50 slowly cooking," said Zeekerss on Twitter/X, "I could release it now, but I want it to be really substantial."
Oh look at that, 30% off! https://t.co/cdg4ioaUjKI'm distracted by my life right now, but I have Version 50 slowly cooking. I could release it now, but I want it to be really substantial. I'm starting to think it may be better for all updates to be bigger and less frequentFebruary 9, 2024
"I'm starting to think it may be better for all updates to be bigger and less frequent," Zeekerss said.
Lethal Company updates to this point have been smaller, more informal affairs that added relatively small pieces to it—a monster, a map tweak, or an item here and there. The post by Zeekerss indicates that the developer is thinking of switching to the model of infrequent major updates used by other big hit games, where an update is not only more thematically unified but contains larger swathes of new stuff.
"I really want content updates to Lethal Company to feel like I broke into an alien zoo and released all the animals," said Zeekerss. Which sounds superb to me, at least as a very succinct and clear design ethos, because the funniest thing in Lethal Company is hollering at the animals.
Lethal Company was one of last year's big breakout indie hits, a cooperative survival horror game more about lo-fi comedy and screaming than about tightly-wound game systems. Writer Dominic Tarason said it was "like an immediately more chaotic and deadly Phasmophobia" just after it went viral last year.
"It's the loud reactions that make this game so entertaining; it's a thrill to play it with friends or watch endless clips on TikTok," said PC Gamer's Jacob Ridley when he made it his personal pick during PC Gamer's Game of the Year awards in 2023. That article, by the way, is a treasure trove of clips to laugh at.
I really want content updates to Lethal Company to feel like I broke into an alien zoo and released all the animals.February 9, 2024
You can find Lethal Company on Steam, where it's normally $10, but is $7—30% off—until February 15. It's in Early Access, and is developed by Zeekerss.