Don't say Manor Lords was made by a 'solo developer,' argues competing city builder maker: 'The team size on it is maybe even larger than ours'

Hit medieval town builder Manor Lords is frequently said to have been created by a single developer, Greg Styczeń, and its marketing has leaned into that notion: The official Manor Lords website says it was «hand crafted by a solo developer.» Crate Entertainment CEO Arthur Bruno, whose town builder Farthest Frontier is also in early access, takes issue with that characterization.

On a call with PC Gamer this week, Bruno expressed annoyance over receiving feedback that assumes Farthest Frontier is being made by a huge development team—it's actually a team of seven—especially when it's compared to the «solo» Manor Lords developer.

«Like, people somehow think we have 60 people, or the entire [Crate Entertainment] team's working on Farthest Frontier, and that we're so slow, but 'one guy is developing Manor Lords,' and it drives me nuts,» said Bruno. «And then you look at the credits for [Manor Lords], and the team size on it is maybe even larger than ours.»

The Manor Lords credits include two «extra programming» acknowledgements and a number of 3D artists, animators, illustrators, concept artists, history consultants, writers, and other contributors. In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Tim Bender, CEO of Manor Lords publisher Hooded Horse, described its development setup as «solo developer plus contractors,» where Styczeń is the main creative force but has brought on outside talent to help.

Styczeń clearly did have a good amount of help, but it also feels fair to say that he has been the primary creator of Manor Lords. He began working on it over six years ago as a part-time hobby, according to a recent interview, and it was only after he launched a Patreon in 2020 and received an Epic MegaGrant in 2021 that he began outsourcing some work to contractors. 

But Bruno asks us to consider whether a «solo developer» who hires a bunch of contractors is really all that different from the seven-person team making Farthest Frontier. «I'm going to start telling people I'm a solo