Derrick the Deathfin Creator £40k in Debt, Had "Little Other Option"

Different Tuna "happy that we finished Derrick"

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Derrick the Deathfin Creator £40k in Debt, Had "Little Other Option"
The developer of quirky, indie PlayStation Network game Derrick the Deathfin has revealed that he ran up a personal debt of £40,000 to get it finished.

Gordon Midwood and his two-man studio at Different Tuna might well have created a rather fun and entertaining game (and you can read SPOnG's review of Derrick right here to see why), but it's unlikely that the project will see enough of a return for Midwood to get his money back. And, as he tells SPOnG, that's perfectly fine.

"The large and beautiful debt mountain was of course not planned; we planned for the game to be finished within the funding that we had," the creative told SPOnG. "I'm sure anybody who follows games understands they can be slippery little beasts & hard to pin down at the best of times."

Midwood and his partner, Ron Zo, originally secured funds to develop Derrick the Deathfin from Channel 4 and Screen Yorkshire. Partner agencies and sponsors were also on board to see the project through. It was meant to release in Summer 2011, but it ended up being released in mid-October this year.

Along with £11,000 of credit card debt, Midwood told on his blog how he ran up a personal loan of £15,000 and even borrowed some £6,000 from his dad to complete the game. It has clearly been a labour of love, and Midwood said that Derrick may never have been released had he not pursued other avenues of financing.

"We are very happy that we finished Derrick & made it so beautiful & fun. Short of putting the project on hiatus for a year or so whilst we secured further funding or quitting entirely there was little other option," he added.

"No need to be overly concerned though. Derrick is still very much alive and swimming, and honestly money is not really that important!"

You should probably buy it. The game is available now on PSN for £5.49, and scored 8/10 on this very website.
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