As 2016 begins, Wither Studios is working hard to make this a year of progress and success. 2015 was a challenging year for us. We made mistakes but have learned from them; coming out stronger for it. Last year we realized that Crowman & Wolfboy wasn't pulling in enough to support further development. A new project was started with hopes of creating new interest, yet this project was causing strain on our team. We decided to approach that development in a new way that was as open as possible. However the project was proving to be too big and too muddled. Many debates (and sometimes arguments) were had over the direction of the project. The project saw several drastic changes during pre-production and ultimately ended up becoming even more convoluted. The stress this game was causing was enough to cause two of our teammates to walk away from Wither. This was a difficult adjustment to overcome but at our core we are still focused and driven by the same goal: to create engaging and thought provoking games!

After a few failed attempts to save the project, the remaining members realized that we needed a new approach to development. "Too many cooks in the kitchen" was a term used quite a few times towards the end and that needed to change. During this time our programmer, Mike, showed us a game that he had been developing on his own. It was a 2D horror game with a pretty cool lighting system he had made. Once he showed his progress and explained the overall concept of what we'll refer to as Project AMW, we loved it! Even though there is emotional pain in the loss of a project we've put a years worth of work into, we have adjusted our course and are confident in the new direction. We've been working on AMW for a couple of months now and will have more to share later. Additionally we are letting Mike direct this one, since it is his baby. This gives birth to our new system: a member who pitches a game we like can direct that game. Restoring the focus that was lacking with an open development structure as well as letting any member have a shot at directing.