Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment
Yacht Club Games needs its next title, Mina the Hollower, to be a success.
A Yacht Club Games employee plays a version of Mina the Hollower.
Photographer: Jamie Lee Taete for Bloomberg Businessweek
The fate of Sean Velasco’s company depends on the success of its next project, a video game called Mina the Hollower. Things aren’t going smoothly. Despite the game being in production for almost six years, Yacht Club Games LLC announced in October—three weeks before the release date—that it’s delaying the title indefinitely.
The next day, Velasco and his team are hosting a reporter from Bloomberg Businessweek at their Los Angeles office to show off their progress. Suddenly the conference room’s television begins smoking, filling the air with the acrid stench of burnt machinery. Reporters usually have to search harder for a metaphor.