Starting an Indie Studio, Getting a Publisher, and Shipping the RPG Indie Hit Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson with Jeff Linville, Ritual Studios

In this episode, Jeff Linville — co-founder of Ritual Studios — returns to Game Dev Advice to talk about the journey behind his band-inspired RPG Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson. From starting a studio with college friends to launching worldwide with French publisher Playdigious, Jeff shares the hard-won lessons of taking the leap into full-time indie development. We go into what it really takes to form a studio, ship a first game, and survive the chaos between passion and business reality. Topics We Cover • Founding Ritual Studios after meeting at Columbia College Chicago • How Fretless mixes music, RPG, and deck-building mechanics • The moment they quit their jobs to “really do it” and chase a publishing deal • Lessons learned about funding, taxes, lawyers, and running a real company • Building a standout pitch deck and landing a deal with Playdigious in France • Managing bugs, Steam feedback, and localization into seven languages • Outsourcing art and engineering — and why it’s harder than it sounds • Choosing FMOD over Wwise for advanced Unity audio integration • Why getting your game playable early is key • How Cardio Ex shaped Jeff’s music-driven sound design • Thoughts on AI tools in audio, from noise cleanup to creative limits • Favorite soundtracks: Hyper Light Drifter and Guild Wars 1 • Current go-to games: Pillars of Eternity and Lord of the Rings Online • Reflections on Mortal Kombat, Midway Games, and player nostalgia • Advice for anyone going indie: “Be ready for it — it’s a business.” 🎥 Making-Of Documentary Making a Musical Indie Game from Scratch (30 min): https://youtu.be/3USobO6qRHE?si=aEhUEI0dwQbMqki2 🎮 Play / Follow • Fretless – The Wrath of Riffson (Steam): https://store.steampowered.com/app/2429050/Fretless__The_Wrath_of_Riffson/ • Ritual Studios (Bluesky): https://bsky.app/profile/ritualstudios.bsky.social • Ritual Studios (Instagram): https://www.instagram.com/ritualgamestudios/?hl=en • Fretless Original Soundtrack (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/album/1VXVxtFzJOUYJypudcF9DN? • Jeff Linville @Dovetail (Linktr.ee): https://linktr.ee/dovetailmusic • Rob Scallon (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/RobScallon • Playdigious (Bluesky): https://bsky.app/profile/playdigious.bsky.social Bio Jeff Linville is Co-Founder of Ritual Studios, a Chicago-based indie studio that published their acclaimed debut, Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson, in July 2025. With 8+ years in game audio and production, Jeff has worked on Fretless, Cardio Ex, and more. 🕹️ Game Dev Advice Whether you’re a student, aspiring dev, or industry veteran, you’ll find practical takeaways and stories from inside game development. Start Here • Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvkY8LxjGyOPqlQKuRlObhg • Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5NChfUVhFxV9NCoUVp4uD0 • Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/game-dev-advice-the-game-developers-podcast/id1450096263 • Patreon (Gain Wisdom coaching): https://www.patreon.com/gamedevadvice • Hotline: (224) 484-7733 • Email: [email protected] • Website: https://www.gamedevadvice.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices