Kinetic Publishing: Indie teams get guidance from the Phasmophobia team

Kinetic Games has had to learn a lot the hard way. Their 2020 breakout hit Phasmophobia began as a solo project by the studio’s founder, Daniel Knight; at launch, this ghost-hunting co-op sold tens of millions of copies and defined a whole new horror genre.Now, the team’s putting that hard-won wisdom to good use with Kinetic Publishing, a recently announced venture to support and empower other indie devs with funding alongside access to technical, operational, and marketing support. I sat down with Knight and head of marketing Asim Tanvir to talk about why they created the publishing imprint, what they’re hoping to achieve there, and what they watch for in prospective games.Emily Raine (Unity): It’s been a few weeks since launch, and I know you’ve had a lot of submissions. What would you say you’re looking for as you review them?Asim Tanvir: We’ve had over 300 submissions already, which has been amazing, and slightly overwhelming in the best way. For us, it’s about creativity and passion. We’re looking for indie games that bring a unique twist to a genre, or just feel fresh. But just as important as the game is the team behind it. This is a partnership, and we want to work with people we genuinely get on with.You can always tell when someone’s poured their heart into a pitch. It shows in everything – the deck, the email, the gameplay videos. We had one recently where the dev did a full walkthrough while playing the demo and was just talking through everything. They were so excited, almost giddy about it, and that energy was infectious. It really stood out.From the business side, we’re not trying to trip anyone up. But knowing your USPs [unique selling points], having a rough idea of your audience, and understanding your numbers, even at a basic level, really helps move things along.Daniel Knight: Yeah, passion is the big one for me. It could be a great concept, but if the dev doesn’t really love what they’re making and is just chasing a trend, it shows. That walkthrough Asim mentioned, you could literally hear how excited they were in their voice. That kind of thing sticks with you.We’re also asking ourselves, “Can we genuinely help this team?” We’ve learned a lot the hard way over the last five years. If we can use that experience to make someone else’s journey smoother, that’s what we’re looking for.What’s the impetus behind doing this right now?DK: This has honestly been a long-term goal for me. Pretty much as soon as I started hiring people, I was saying that one day I’d love for us to get into publishing. I’ve learned so much from self-publishing Phasmophobia, a lot of it the hard way, and it felt right to eventually pass that knowledge on.The timing now just makes sense. We’re approaching 50 people as a studio, and we’ve grown a lot in terms of experience and structure. We finally have the bandwidth to do this properly, without stretching ourselves thin. It’s really about giving back to the indie space. That’s where I started, and it’s where so much of the most exciting stuff is happening.What is the most exciting thing about the indie game space right now?AT: There’s just so much cool stuff happening. Every few weeks there’s a new indie game popping up on Steam that makes you go, “I didn’t even know I wanted this.” I’m currently playing Cairn by The Game Bakers – who would’ve thought a climbing game would be that tense and fun? And seeing it do well is brilliant. I love seeing those success stories.That’s what excites me most, the creativity. Whether it’s a solo dev like Dan was a few years ago, or a small team of five or ten people, that’s where you see really bold ideas. And when indie games succeed, it’s good for everyone. A rising tide lifts all boats. It brings more players into the space and highlights how strong indie development is globally.DK: To Asim's point, I think indie teams can take risks in ways bigger studios sometimes can’t. That’s where innovation comes from.We’ve already had some incredible games pitched to us that just need a bit of support, funding, marketing, guidance, to get over the finish line. There’s so much potential out there.Any tips you can share with devs on how to make a game stand out to publishers?DK: A demo goes a long way. It’s not mandatory, but being able to actually play something, even if it’s rough, makes a huge difference. It doesn’t need to be polished or content-complete. Just show us the core idea and the direction you want to go in.AT: From a marketing side, know your USPs and lean into them. What makes your game different? Why would someone talk about it? And know your numbers. It sounds simple, but having a rough handle on budgets, timelines, or audience targets really helps the process.Dan, you’ve grown this studio from one person to over 50. What advice would you give to smaller dev studios as they’re growing, on hiring or filling skillsets they don’t have?DK:The biggest thing is having the right advisors around you from the very start, especially legal and financial. Accountants, lawyers, even if you’re just one person, that support is really important. Having experienced people around you can save you a lot of stress later.Is the publishing being run by people who are on the team already or do you have external people that you bring in?DK: It’s mostly internal. We’re leaning heavily on the experience we’ve built up through Phasmophobia and the wider industry. We’ve hired one dedicated person to focus specifically on publishing, particularly on the production side, and we’ll grow that side carefully as we go. If we need specialist support, we’ll absolutely bring people in, but we want this to feel hands-on and personal.AT: Yeah, we don’t want it to feel like a big corporate machine. We’ve been through the indie journey ourselves, especially Dan. We know how tough it can be. So the goal isn’t to sign loads of games, it’s to work closely with a smaller number of teams and properly support them. That’s what matters to us. Learn more about Kinetic Publishing here, and check out Unity's Indie Survival Guide for more tips on succeeding as a small team.