Announcing Space Goblin Games
Behold, Earth creatures—I have transformed! No longer a mere solo game developer, I am now a one person game development studio!
Which is of course the same thing, but what it means is that rather than using my own name, I'll be releasing Foolish Earth Creatures and my future games under the label Space Goblin Games.
Space Goblin Games has a website, www.spacegoblingames.com, and I'm in the process of updating sites with my games to use it rather than (or in addition to) my real name. Notably, this means the URL for my games on itch.io is now spacegoblingames.itch.io rather than johnayliff.itch.io. Links with the old URL should redirect to the new one.
Why use a games studio name? My hope is that it will make me look more professional and make my games look more serious (and therefore more worth paying for). It also means that I can commission artwork and music for my games without feeling like I'm taking credit for others' work by putting “by John Ayliff” on the entire game.
Why “Space Goblin Games”? I've always liked goblins in fantasy fiction—small, ugly-cute, mischievous but probably not really evil. In D&D and games of that tradition they're a very weak enemy, and I'm drawn to them in a rooting-for-the-underdogs kind of way. Meanwhile, of course, I'm a space nerd and most of my games are about space. So a space goblin felt like the perfect game dev persona.
To be clear, Space Goblin Games is still just me; I have no plans for it to ever be a company with employees besides myself.