From outsourcing to Horla: Mr. Dev Studio's journey in the gaming world

Meet the work of Mr. Dev Studio, which has been drawing attention with Horla

Following on from this week's Mundo Indie, find out more about Mr. Dev, the studio behind Horla, and how it acts in the market.

Over the last few years, the number of game companies has grown rapidly in Brazil. Even with a challenging scenario, developers have been working to turn the country into a powerhouse in the industry. Thanks to the work of Brazilian devs, we have seen more and more national games gaining prominence among gamers in Brazil and around the world.

One of the many companies that have emerged in the last decade is Mr. Dev Studio, founded in Rio Grande do Sul in 2015. The studio has recently gained recognition with the demo of Horla, a first-person horror game that is currently in development.

The company specializes in outsourcing services to other game studios or clients from other sectors.

"We've been operating since 2016 mainly as a service provider, outsourcing to other games companies. We've worked on different types of projects, whether games or virtual environments," Heckel explains, founding partner of Mr. Dev Studio.

Among games, the studio's expertise is in the hypercasual genre, smartphone games with simpler user interfaces and gameplay concepts.

Horla: behind the scenes of development

Among the studio's original games, the horror game Horla represents a new challenge and is even more ambitious than previous Mr. Dev Studio projects.

"It's been a new experience for Mr. Dev to be developing this type of game - both conceptually and mechanically," explains Heckel, "It's been a really cool experience."

The development of Horla is due to a call for proposals from FAC Filma RS, launched by the state government of Rio Grande do Sul, which included projects for game demos. The game demo began production in December last year and was completed in May 2023.

"We proposed this project, and we succeeded," says the founder of Mr. Dev Studio. After producing the demo, Horla's project is now in the phase of 'collecting' feedback and prospecting for possible partners who can help fund the game.

The studio's other projects

Between 'commissioned' and authored projects, Mr. Dev Studio has published several games throughout its history.

The vast majority of these projects have been developed for mobile platforms. Some of them, like Horla, came from public calls for proposals.

This is the case with the apps Pequenos Contos Gauchescos and Gramado Jornada Virtual, available for Android and iOS devices. The first is an augmented reality app that tells traditional stories from Rio Grande do Sul, while the second, from the municipality of Gramado, also in RS, tells the history of the city.

Moving away from the world of hyper-casual games, another project under development at the studio is Anviland Tales. Heckel considers the game, which has a demo available on itch.io, to be a 'satire' of The Legend of Zelda - an established franchise on Nintendo consoles.

"It's a fantasy game. It's not really an RPG, it's more of an action-adventure game, like classic Zelda. Only it's more chaotic," he points out.

Outsourcing as a way of making a living

"Everyone has bills to pay," jokes Heckel. "Even indie developers have to find a way to pay their bills and have to walk on their own two feet. And that's what outsourcing is in our market: being an outsourced workforce for the development of a project."

As a service provider, Mr. Dev Studio develops computer, mobile, web, and VR games, for example. For Heckel, outsourcing gives studios the opportunity to operate with a certain degree of comfort, since they don't depend directly on the release and sales of their own projects for income.

"Outsourcing brings comfort and stability to companies in the sector," he points out. "We don't need a game to be ready in order to make a return, you get paid for developing it. This also allows us to have the resources to invest in the development of our own games."

It is also important to note that outsourcing services is not a one-way street. It is common practice in the sector for companies to create strong business relationships and exchange expertise over the years.

In Horla, for example, Mr. Dev Studio relied on the support of other professionals to finish developing the game's demo.

"The sound part of Horla was outsourced, as was the game design, which was done by a company that is our partner and had a very experienced designer. This exchange happens a lot," explains the studio's partner.

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Did you like this content? Want to know more about Mr. Dev Studio?

Click here and check out the company's official platforms!

Haven't checked out the Horla demo yet? It can be downloaded for free from itch.io and the game's Steam page is now available for you to add Horla to your wishlist.

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Author: Guilherme Guerreiro