Co-founder Alexander Santiago discusses running a studio in a market of "smaller teams delivering bigger successes"

Last week, indie publisher Critical Reflex hosted its annual showcase, featuring a host of hard-to-define titles including Altered Alma, a cyberpunk-infused Metroidvania from Barcelona-based 2Awesome Studio.

2Awesome is finalizing its largest title to date, which raised over €260,000 from more than 5,100 Kickstarter backers. Launched in 2024, the campaign initially aimed for €40,000.

As Altered Alma nears completion, 2Awesome co-founder Alexander Santiago tells GamesIndustry.biz that the team is optimistic about the game's launch.

"Wishlist numbers are looking really good; we featured in Steam Next Fest and had a really good reception. We're always going to different events. We were in the Indie Arena at Gamescom, which is a seal of quality because the games are curated. When you get in that, your game has something. We're going in the right direction."

Development on Altered Alma started in 2023, at a time when the industry had "big projects and big budgets," says Santiago. "Altered Alma was a challenging and ambitious project for us. It's the biggest game we've done, biggest team, biggest scope, biggest everything. It's an open-world Metroidvania, so it requires effort."

Drawing on this experience, Santiago is confident 2Awesome will streamline development for its next project. The team plans to continue the Altered Alma franchise with a more focused scope.

"Looking at the overall industry for newer IPs and projects, it's focused on smaller budgets and focused games – doing one or two things really well.

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