Those who were excited about the sequel to well-received indie title, Fez’s recently announced sequel, Fez II are in for some bad news; Fez II has apparently been cancelled. Not only that, but head Fez developer, Phil Fish has announced that he is quitting the industry.
“Fez II is cancelled. i am done. i take the money and i run. this is as much as i can stomach. this is isn’t [sic] the result of any one thing, but the end of a long bloody campaign. you win.” writes Fish.
This is very unfortunate, as Fez is truly a great indie title that demands the attention of both retro-minded gamers and puzzle-platformer enthusiasts. The game was originally released exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade last year, but also made it to Steam just a couple of months ago.
Fish’s development outfit, Polytron Corporation, which he co-founded with fellow developer, Shawn McGrath, seemed more sombre and disappointed about the cancellation, saying that the Twitter news was delivered with a heavy heart. Polytron’s next move is currently undetermined.
As unfortunate as Fez II being cancelled is however, perhaps it also isn’t surprising. In recent months especially, Fish has gained something of a bad reputation for his narcissistic personality and frequent badmouthing of the game industry. His harsh declarations and frequent media insults have given even fans of Fez a rather low opinion of him in many circles. This recently culminated in a Twitter war with GameTrailers journalist, Marcus Beer, though Fish denies that this was the sole reason for his departure from the industry.
Regardless, it’s sad to see such a beloved indie brand fall from grace in this manner, particularly when its head developer essentially ‘rage-quits’ the industry. You can see some of the painstaking five-year development of Fez in documentary, Indie Game: The Movie, and perhaps draw your own conclusions about whether or not Fish is justified in his departure from gaming on these terms.
Are you sad about Fez II’s cancellation? Do you think Phil Fish leaving the industry is no big loss? As usual, leave your thoughts in the comments below.