René Rother on Children of the Sun, Being an Indie Developer, and His Failed but Successful Publisher Pitch

German indie developer René Rother is behind the creative shooter Children of the Sun. Over the course of the year, we had the opportunity to talk to him about the game, the challenges of being an indie developer, and the failed pitch that led to a deal with Devolver Digital.

In April 2024, German indie (and solo) developer René Rother released the tactical third-person puzzle shooter Children of the Sun in collaboration with publisher Devolver Digital. In the game, you play as "The Girl", who grew up brainwashed by "The Cult", but she is now free from their control and waging a one-woman war of vengeance against them and their enigmatic messiah, The Leader.

This vendetta is a mix of sniping and puzzle-solving: you can only fire one bullet per level. But thanks to The Girl's physics-defying telekinetic powers, that bullet can be redirected, curved around obstacles, and more. Meanwhile, the successful game has been updated with the Nightmare Paralysis Update. It introduces a new Horde mode, dynamic weather and an enemy that shoots back. Over the course of the year, we had the opportunity to talk to René Rother from time to time about the game, being an indie developer, failed pitches, Berlin as a game location, player feedback and more.

GamesMarkt: How did you get the idea for Children of the Sun?

René Rother: "It was all kind of coincidence. It must be about 15 years since I started making games. If you count the time I spent making mods or maps for Counter Strike, it's even longer. But all in all, they were never really games. They were more like interactive experiments. A lot of times I just had a rather visual idea for a certain moment, which I then realized. A good example of this would be Bleeding Together, Dying Alone. I particularly enjoy working on the atmosphere of a game. Not so much the horror, but a more certain dense, rather oppressive atmosphere. I'm not quite sure how to put it into words, but that's the kind of feeling I'm looking for. With Children of the Sun, it was the other way round. The gameplay came first. I don't know where the idea came from. All I know is that at some point I suddenly had something that actually looked like a game. After working on it on the side for a while, I just emailed Devolver one evening. And that's when it all became real."

GamesMarkt: What challenges do you face as a solo developer?

René Rother: "I think the biggest challenge I face is time. The time I spend decorating a level, for example, always means that everything else has to wait. Prioritising things can be very difficult because some things are obviously more fun than others. I would love to spend days making the grass in the game blow in the wind and interact with the world. But does that make sense? At some point it has to be finished. Of course, this is also a problem for studios, but being alone makes it a bit worse."

GamesMarkt: How did the cooperation with Devolver Digital come about and what kind of support do they provide?

René Rother: "As I mentioned before, I sent an email to Devolver one evening. With a build of the game, a video and a short text. A few days later I got a reply: the pitch was rubbish, but the game looked cool. That was enough, haha! Devolver is very pleasant to work with. Very friendly! I feel like you're more of a human being to them, and they trust me to deliver something that isn't complete nonsense in the end."

"Apart from the obvious support, I have my producer and now good friend Juan de la Torre, who helps me a lot. Aside from helping me make spreadsheets for all sorts of things, scheduling and so on, we talk about everything in and out of the game on a daily basis. He helps me a lot in making the game what it is. And also in being a little less alone in the process. Because making games alone can sometimes feel a bit lonely."

GamesMarkt: Have you already set up a company, or do you have plans to do so?

René Rother: "No company has been set up yet and, to be honest, I don't really have a complete overview of the situation. Since the money flow goes through Devolver, I don't have to worry too much about it, at least for the time being. It remains to be seen how things will develop in the future in terms of follow-up projects. In principle, though, I would like to continue on a similar scale. Nice, cosy and small. At the moment, I still see it as an independent opportunity to put something on the market. And now I'll just see what happens. Maybe I'm being a bit naive, but at the moment the risk is very low for me. Financial success or not, I've had a couple of good years where I've been able to do what I want, and that's a huge privilege."

GamesMarkt: So what is it like for you to develop games in Berlin?

René Rother: "In Berlin, there's a pretty big community of people who also make games, and regular events where people get together and show what they've been working on. That's always really nice! But since I'm mostly working alone in my little room here, I don't get to see much beyond that. I'm not very good at networking. I'm not interested in that. What's more important to me here is the general quality of life. All I need is regular concerts to go to and, when the weather is nice, a couple of beers in the park. (...) I like Berlin a lot!"

GamesMarkt: A demo was released before the actual release of the game. How did people react to it?

René Rother: "To be honest, I'm very surprised! The reactions to the demo and the number of wishlists are quite good. So far I've just been making my own little nonsense without it reaching a significant audience. I think I'm doing well with the visuals, but I didn't expect the gameplay to be so well received. (...) But as I said before, just getting anything out there, and working with Devolver on it, is a huge win for me. So for me personally, the game is a success even before it is released. Whatever the bottom line is later on."

GamesMarkt: And what about the feedback from players after the launch?

René Rother: "At launch, I sat in front of the computer waiting for the reviews to come in, and then started frantically hitting F5 to make sure I hadn't missed anything. And somehow they were all very positive. I was very surprised. The game now has an 81% approval rating on Metacritic. My goal wasn't to make a 'good' game, I wanted to make something I thought was interesting. The fact that the press was so positive about it was great! The reviews on Steam are even better. The game currently has a 93% positive rating on Steam. Children of the Sun was my first commercial project. I didn't expect it to go so smoothly. I'm very happy and relieved about that."

GamesMarkt: What's next for you after Children of the Sun? Will you remain a solo developer, finally start your own studio, join another team or do something completely different?

René Rother: "Working on a game alone can be quite isolating. That's why I wanted to work in a bar for a while. And then see how it goes. I definitely want to continue on my own and not set up a studio. Keeping things small has worked well for me. I don't want to change that."

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