Solo indie developer Oren Koren got into game development about six years ago, smack in the middle of the COVID pandemic. A software veteran, he started off by tinkering with the Unity game engine, used to make games in a range of genres, and played a classic indie card: making a giant open-world RPG. "Of course" he chose an enormous RPG, he tells me. But, get this, those are really hard to make, so he scaled down and focused on smaller projects until, eventually, he ended up working in design at the Scotland-based studio of GTA 6 maker Rockstar Games, one of the kings of gigantic open worlds.
Koren "can't say too much" about his work at Rockstar, but the timeline speaks for itself: just over two years ago, as GTA 6 fever persisted through delays, he left the studio to get back to small-scale solo development and focus on finishing his dream roguelike, Don't Lose Aggro. It launched this month on April 15 and is currently sitting at 89% positive reviews on Steam.
