I’ve said it once, I’ll repeat it with my dying breath; if you’re looking for where the proverbial heart and soul of the game industry has moved to, you need to look at indie developers. Often armed with little more than passion and one hell of a dream, these tiny studios work from everywhere plausible to bring the newest cutting edge of mechanics. Sometimes they work and result in unmitigated success, sometimes it’s a hilarious flop, but they are all joined together by the intangible bonds of fiery passion.
The most recent example of this comes from Pathea Games, the Chinese-based game development studio that brought the charming idyllic life simulator, My Time At Portia. Best known for both their mildly confusing patch notes that seem to be a result of Google Translate and beating the snot out of other villagers to make them like you.
That second point isn’t a misconception; it’s common for players to finish a date, or start one, with a friendly bout of fisticuffs as the other villagers encircle the duo beating the flying crap out of each other.
Happy Lunar New Year!
We hope those who celebrate are enjoying spending treasured time with family! May the #YearoftheRat be kind to you all! pic.twitter.com/K8ISsCCtvP
— MyTimeAtPortia (@MyTimeAtPortia) January 25, 2020
Still, as much as I’d like it to be for the sake of humor, this isn’t a write-up on domestic violence being used as a medium for building a strong relationship.
Pathea Games has taken to Twitter to announce that all of their proceeds from Steam for the month of February will go directly to Han Hong Love Charity Foundation, for the Coronavirus Epidemic Relief Effort. My Time At Portia is, of course, leading the charge for this as its the only game that the studio has released as of yet, although many are excited for the metaphorical round two.
It may go without saying, but Pathea Games is directly suffering from the Coronavirus outbreak. With their studio being smack in the middle of Chongqing, concerningly close to Wuhan where the outbreak began, all of the developers are shuttered away in their houses attempting to hide from the pandemic that has been tearing across the globe. Four of their developers are under mandated quarantine due to the virus, but Pathea Games announces that all developers are, at this time, still healthy.
They plan on being very transparent not only about the funds received during February, but also when those funds move towards the charity organization geared best to offer relief to those stricken. If you’ve been on the fence about My Time At Portia, or even haven’t heard of the title before now, it’s arguably the single best time to grab it from Steam. A wonderful title with a healthy dose of bizarre mechanics, you can experience a new genre that holds mechanics from Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing, and Street Fighter.
Pathea finishes their announcement by noting that the studio still plans on pushing out two free updates to their beloved title this year, yet there will be a delay due to the epidemic.
