FuturLab on Sierra deal: ‘Self-publishing is hard’

Brighton-based developer FuturLab has signed a new partnership with Sierra, Activision’s indie publishing label, to release new versions of its hit Velocity 2X later this year.

Arcade-style shooter Velocity 2X was originally self-published on PlayStation 4 and Vita, but the new Xbox One and PC editions due this summer will be published by Sierra.

On the FuturLab blog, studio director and owner James Marsden explained why his firm had teamed up with the Activision division.

"Self publishing is hard," he wrote. "I spent more time doing PR and marketing on Velocity 2X than I spent designing levels. I became a bottleneck for the whole project. That was far from ideal.

"Thanks to blogging, it’s now common knowledge that marketing is just as important as making a great-innovative-artistically-stunning-multiple-award-winning-GOTY. Some people might say more important.

So, given that marketing is vital to success, who could be better suited to hold aloft our creations than Sierra? The best bit is that we retain control of our IP."

Activision announced back in August that it was reviving the classic Sierra brand as a new publishing label for indie titles.