Ship a good game, learn from it, and build from there:' Lessons from going

Chris Kerr,Senior Editor, News,GameDeveloper.com

September 10, 2026

6 Min ReadImage via TurnKey Games

As major studios continue to jettison workers like a falling dirigible ditching ballast, there's an existential quandary facing those employed under the triple-A monoliths: stick or twist?

The word 'security' feels like a distant fever dream in the current job market. Even if you somehow manage to secure a new gig, how long until the cycle begins again? It's a valid, daunting question. So, why not try and swerve it entirely? Doom Eternal art director Tony Garza chose to do exactly that when they co-founded Turnkey Games after seeing the writing on the wall at Microsoft subsidiary id Software.

"We felt increasingly disconnected from some of the values and decisions we were seeing around us, and the direction of the industry in general prompted us to build something on our own," Garza told Game Developer.

That feeling proved prophetic. Earlier this year, Microsoft decimated the Doom custodian after confirming plans to make 3,200 people redundant before the end of the current fiscal year.

Garza had already made for the exit. Alongside fellow id Software alum Richard O'Neal (who is also his cousin), Garza established Dallas-based indie studio Turnkey to craft a third-person horror adventure called Apart, where players must traverse a post-apocalyptic world in the guise of a nimble severed arm and modular zombie child.

It's no secret that bringing any project to market is a miracle in itself, so how are Garza and O'Neal making their approach while trying to rightsize their careers during a period of massive upheaval?

Garza said they chose to bootstrap Turnkey to keep overheads down. "We built the team gradually and planned development so we could sustain progress without taking on unnecessary risk," he added. O'Neal explained that ensured the fledgling company didn't need to immediately find a publisher to absorb production costs. Smart spending can buy you time—and that's a hugely valuable commodity.

"Most of the money went directly into making the game, development equipment, software, contractors where we needed specialized help, business and legal expenses, and eventually marketing," said O'Neal. "We have tried to keep the company lean. We are not spending money on an office or building a huge team before the game can support it. The goal has always been to put as much of the budget on the screen as possible."

To avoid scope creep, Garza and O'Neal were brutally honest about what they could realistically accomplish with their modest resources. "That meant prioritizing the features that mattered most and being willing to cut or simplify ideas that didn't meaningfully improve the game," said Garza. "We've also been careful about how we've grown the team. Every person we've brought on has been a deliberate addition that made the game better, not just bigger."

O'Neal explained triple-A production often leans on the idea that each game system must support every possible gameplay scenario. Bigger is better, so to speak. By contrast, he said that philosophy would "bury" indie studios who must instead focus on what makes their project unique. You've heard it time and time again, but constraints can become your secret weapon.

"I have had to become much more comfortable with finding the simplest solution that delivers the intended player experience"

Naturally, you don't spend over a decade working at id Software without picking up a few tricks of the trade. Garza said triple-A production taught him the need to deeply question why you're making a specific decision.

"One idea that's stayed with me is always asking 'Is the game better for it?'. I asked that question constantly while I was in leadership at id, and I still ask it today. 'Will the player notice? Will they care?'. If the answer is no, then it's worth questioning if that feature, system, or polish pass is really the best use of time," he added. "Development taught me the value of craftsmanship. You have incredibly talented people pushing every discipline to its highest level. While an indie team doesn't have those same resources, that mindset of making sure every decision serves the player carries over."

O'Neal said his time at the Texas studio reinforced the need for a strong identity. He explained franchises like Doom are so beloved specifically because they don't try and cater to every possible audience. Find your niche and lean into it. Don't dilute your vision by attempting to capture the mass market. Both founders also had to ditch some of their triple-A tendencies. For O'Neal, that meant unlearning the idea that every system needs to be built at massive scale.

"At a large studio, you often build tools and systems that need to support many developers, multiple platforms and years of production," he added. "That makes sense in that environment. On an indie game, that same approach can become unnecessary engineering work. I have had to become much more comfortable with finding the simplest solution that delivers the intended player experience. It still needs to be reliable, but it does not always need to be a universal framework."

Garza, by contrast, realized his perfectionist tendencies were creating roadblocks. He feels indie production is all about "momentum." Not everything needs to be perfect, and sometimes "good enough" is ideal if it allows you to keep moving forward. "Work fast and iterate," he stressed. Although Garza and O'Neal no longer have to contend with the prospect of falling victim to another round of mass layoffs, going indie isn't without its own set of risks. O'Neal admits that uncertainty is inescapable—even if it now has a slightly different flavor.

"At a large company, even when development is difficult, there is an established structure around you. Going indie means the creative, technical and financial risks become much more personal. You are also responsible for far more than making the game. You have to think about contracts, marketing, trailers, platform requirements, budgets, hiring and whether the decisions you are making today will still make sense a year from now," said O'Neal.

"The most rewarding part is the ownership. We can make decisions quickly, follow ideas we believe in and build a game that feels personal to us. There is a direct connection between the work we do and what players eventually see. Seeing Apart develop from an unusual idea into a real game with its own identity has been incredibly rewarding. Every milestone feels meaningful because we know exactly what it took to reach it."

Garza feels the same way, but said the onslaught of layoffs at Microsoft has left him convinced that going indie was the right decision.

"After seeing so many people I worked with laid off at id Software, it reinforced that we made the right decision to start something on our own. We're honestly still learning about indie development everyday as we move towards ship and I will say going indie isn't the right path for everyone. It comes with a tremendous amount of uncertainty and you have to be comfortable wearing a lot of different hats," continued Garza.

"That said, if you've always wanted to build something of your own, it can also be incredibly rewarding. My advice would be to start small, scope realistically while assuming feature growth, and focus on actually finishing. Don't spend years chasing perfection or you will run out of budget, ship a good game, learn from it, and build from there. This has been our approach."

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About the Author

Chris Kerr

Senior Editor, News, GameDeveloper.com

Game Developer news editor Chris Kerr is an award-winning reporter with over a decade of experience in the game industry. His byline has appeared in notable print and digital publications including Edge, Stuff, Wireframe, International Business Times, and PocketGamer.biz. Throughout his career, Chris has covered major industry events including GDC, PAX Australia, Gamescom, Paris Games Week, and Develop Brighton.

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