It is always great to hear when a small development team is able to find success, and this seems to be the case for the team behind Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Ember Lab. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, founders, and siblings Mike and Josh Grier stated that the title was able to recoup its initial production costs in only a month of sales across the PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, and PC.
They discussed the success in a bit more context, stating that they were “pleasantly surprised” with the sales to date, as well as the reception for the title overall. On the Sony front, they were also happy with sales for the game this far. Sony partnered with the company for console exclusivity of Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which amounted to a bit of a gamble given that Ember Lab had relatively no video game experience prior to this.
The brother also recounted being able to take part in the Sony event during the summer of 2020 and the height of Covid-19 Pandemic. The event was digital-only, with teams being asked to record their video remotely. Josh recounted that it involved a cameraman in full protective gear to comply with social distancing and proper safety precautions.
He stated:
He was in a full hazmat suit, sweating the whole time. It was professionally done but very weird.
Thanks to the success that Kena: Bridge of Spirits has achieved, it has allowed Ember Lab to commit full-time to video game development. While nothing concrete has been announced for their future, they have confirmed that they plan to follow up with another narrative-driven adventure game.
In Gaming Instincts review for Kena: Bridge of Spirits, our own Devin Rardin stated that “As a whole package, though, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, is an innocent and relaxing experience that’s difficult to put down.”
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